No, Mendocino County voters were not asked to vote on a data center construction moratorium. On July 7, 2026, the Board of Supervisors directed county staff to prepare a proposed urgency moratorium—a temporary pause requiring special findings and a separate Board vote. The proposal is not law, and it does not currently block applications. Staff must return with a draft ordinance before supervisors decide whether to adopt it.
Table of Contents
- What did supervisors approve?
- Why is the county considering a pause?
- What must happen before a moratorium takes effect?
- Where would the county's authority stop?
- How can residents follow the decision?
What did supervisors approve?
supervisors John Haschak and Ted Williams proposed pausing the processing and approval of new data centers while the county studies possible public-health and environmental effects. The Mendocino County agenda record shows that the Board approved a modified direction for staff to prepare an ordinance. According to the Anderson Valley Advertiser, the direction passed 5–0.
The Board also formed a Haschak-Williams ad hoc committee to examine other jurisdictions' rules and possible environmental, health, and fiscal effects, both positive and negative. This was an instruction to develop legislation, not approval of the legislation itself. The ordinance's exact terms will depend on the draft returned to the Board.
Why is the county considering a pause?
The county staff report identifies several issues for further study: These are concerns to investigate, not findings that a particular data center has harmed Mendocino County. The distinction matters because no data center project had been publicly proposed in the county when supervisors acted.
The initiative is therefore preemptive. County officials are considering whether local rules should be established before an applicant seeks approval, rather than reacting to a pending project.
- Water consumption
- Electricity demand
- Potential pollution
- Neighborhood quality of life
- Property values
What must happen before a moratorium takes effect?
County staff must first prepare a draft and return it for a separate Board decision. Until supervisors adopt an ordinance, the proposed moratorium does not bar the processing or approval of a new data center application. A final urgency moratorium would need support from four-fifths of the Board.
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Supervisors would also have to find a current and immediate threat to residents' health, safety, or welfare under california Government Code section 65858. Those requirements create an important legal hurdle. The Board's unanimous July 7 direction does not guarantee that the later ordinance will receive the required vote or contain the same scope initially discussed.
Where would the county's authority stop?
Any county ordinance would operate only where Mendocino County has land-use authority. It would not automatically cover every property located within the county's geographic boundaries. The Mendocino Voice reported that the county does not control land use at the state-owned Redwood Empire Fairgrounds.
A county data center moratorium therefore would not govern that property. That limitation could matter if future interest centers on state-owned land. The eventual draft should be read closely for its geographic reach, covered facilities, exemptions, and treatment of applications already submitted.
How can residents follow the decision?
Residents do not need to prepare for a countywide ballot measure based on the July 7 action. The next meaningful event will be staff's return with a draft ordinance for the Board of Supervisors. Before taking a position, residents can check: For now, a prospective application is not barred by this proposed ordinance, and the Redwood Empire Fairgrounds would remain outside the county's land-use authority.
- Whether the draft pauses applications, approvals, construction, or some combination
- How the ordinance defines a data center
- Which properties and government-owned sites it covers
- What evidence supports the required immediate-threat findings
- Whether the proposal addresses water, electricity, pollution, property values, and fiscal effects
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