Champaign County moves forward with moratorium on 'big data centers'

URBANA, Ill. (WAND) — The Champaign County Environment and Land Use Committee voted to put a year-long moratorium on "big data centers" Thursday night.

This will only apply to projects that are 10,000 square feet or larger.

There are already four data centers in Champaign County, including the National Petascale Computing Facility at the University of Illinois and Colocation Plus, a.k.a "The Fortress" in Rantoul.

"None of them were more than 2000ft² in area. So we're anticipating a new hyperscale data center could be easily, 50,000ft² of processing area," said John Hall, planning and zoning director for Champaign County.

After a public hearing, the committee is expected to formalize the moratorium in April.

Additionally, the committee approved a task force to develop a set of rules and guidelines for data center developments wanting to come to Champaign County.

Investigation finds video of moments suspect fires deadly shots in Decatur shooting

Macon County Sheriff's deputy resigns following DUI citation

Donations needed after family of 5 young children lose everything in fire

Residents voice concerns as Moweaqua examines village overtime costs