Snohomish County WA Council Unanimously Approves Emergency 6-Month Data Center Moratorium

The Snohomish County Council unanimously approved an emergency 6-month moratorium on new data-center development in unincorporated Snohomish County on June 25, 2026, sponsored by Arlington Councilmember Nate Nehring. The temporary zoning ordinance pauses new development while the council crafts a permanent policy “focused on community input, thorough research, and best practices from other jurisdictions.” The ordinance requires a public hearing within 60 days and may be renewed for additional 6-month periods if a subsequent hearing and findings of fact precede each renewal.

This extends the Washington state data-center moratorium wave already tracked in this corpus alongside Spokane County’s divided nine-month proposal (2026-07-22–spokane-county-wa-commission-split-data-center-pause) — Snohomish’s unanimous vote, in contrast to Spokane’s split commission, suggests county-level consensus on pause-first zoning is broadening in Washington even where the eventual permanent policy remains undetermined.