Logan to hold second data center open house Oct. 5

Logan City will hold a second data center open house on Oct. 5 at 6 p.m. in the City Hall conference room, giving residents a chance to review draft zoning language before it moves toward formal adoption.

The event follows an Aug. 4 open house that drew nearly 100 residents, most of whom voiced opposition to data centers, according to city officials. The Logan Municipal Council voted unanimously June 30 to impose a 180-day moratorium on data center development, set to expire Dec. 30, giving city staff time to draft regulations before any project is formally proposed.

City Council member Melissa Dahle said the draft ordinance divides data centers into three categories: small operations embedded within an existing business that most residents wouldn’t notice, standalone data centers capped at roughly 100,000 square feet and eight acres with specific regulations attached, and large, hyperscale data centers, which would not be allowed within city limits at all.

“We’re hoping to get some things in place before we get approached by data centers,” Dahle said.

Russ Holley, Logan’s director of community development, said the regulations have involved several city departments, including planning and zoning, light and power, and public works. Once finalized, the draft must go through a public hearing before the planning commission and two city council meetings, one workshop and one action item before a vote. Adoption requires at least three council votes.

Holley said the first open house, while emotionally charged, remained largely civil.

“I would not say it was hostile,” Holley said. “There were a few shouts at the beginning, but it was not hostile. I would expect a similar type of atmosphere.”

Dahle described the mood in blunter terms, saying some attendees arrived ready to reject data centers outright.

“It was the pitchforks and daggers,” Dahle said, adding that a small number of attendees voiced support, noting that most businesses rely on some form of data storage.

A team of Utah State University researchers plans to attend the Oct. 5 open house to share findings from a statewide survey on data center attitudes and collect additional feedback through a poster board and QR code. Gina Gilson, an assistant professor in the Department of Environment and Society, said the researchers see themselves as an additional resource for residents at an event designed to be informal rather than adversarial.

“We just saw an opportunity as people who do research and social scientists, who think a lot about community engagement, to help provide just a little bit more capacity for the city council,” Gilson said. 

The survey, conducted in August through Utah State’s Community and Natural Resources Institute, found that 75.8% of nearly 900 Utah adults surveyed statewide oppose or strongly oppose new or additional data center development, with opposition increasing the closer a proposed project is to a respondent’s home. Water use, energy use and the ability to participate in local decisions ranked among residents’ top concerns, according to the survey’s executive summary.

Stacia Ryder, an assistant professor in the School of Social Sciences, said outright bans carry legal risks that more detailed regulations can help avoid.

“If you do implement bans, it can create a lot of expensive lawsuits that the taxpayers are then on the hook for,” Ryder said. 

Jessica Schad, a professor and director of Utah State’s Community and Natural Resources Institute who oversaw the survey, said the data could help city leaders identify concerns not yet addressed in the draft ordinance.

“It might just help surface some unrecognized concerns that they might not otherwise be able to super easily see,” Schad said. 

The City Hall conference room is located at 290 N. 100 W. in Logan. City officials have said no data center has formally proposed a project in Logan, and there are currently no commercial data centers operating in Cache County.