Local votes and rules
📌 Other · Coeur d'Alene
The city council unanimously passed a resolution saying it will not approve any plan to build or expand a data center in the city until more study and policy review is done. Council members named the aquifer, power and water as concerns. It is a statement of position, not a new zoning law.
⏸️ Pause on new data centers · Kootenai County
County commissioners voted unanimously for an emergency pause of about six months (182 days) on building permits for data centers in the county outside city limits. They said developers were interested in land over the Rathdrum Prairie Aquifer, which supplies drinking water for over 600,000 people. The written resolution (2025-23) was signed March 11, 2025, effective back to Feb. 27. It ran out at the end of August 2025.
📜 Data center rules · Kootenai County
After the pause ended in late August 2025, county commissioners passed rules that make data centers need a special permit (conditional use permit) with public comment. Data centers may not be built over the Rathdrum Prairie Aquifer, the area's main drinking water source. A commissioner said the goal was to make building one as hard as possible until a full ban could be passed.
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In Idaho, cities and towns decide inside their limits. Outside them, the county decides.