New data centers will not be considered in the Cottonwood Canyons corridor along Millcreek's eastern boundary or two other unincorporated Salt Lake County zones until at least next spring.

The Salt Lake County Council voted unanimously Wednesday, Sept. 16, to pause all new data center applications in three areas: the Oquirrh foothills, the Cottonwood Canyons and a sliver of land northeast of the airport near the Great Salt Lake shore. The resolution directs county staff to draft regulations covering conditional-use permit requirements and utility consumption limits.

The vote was unanimous.

Those rules will go through the mountainous planning commission, which oversees the county's foothills and canyons, and the Salt Lake County planning commission before reaching the council. The council expects to review the final ordinance by mid-February, The Salt Lake Tribune reported.

Any data center project proposed during the pause would have to comply with the new rules once adopted.

"This is something that everyone has become passionate about and become an activist, whether or not they knew it," Council member Natalie Pinkney said at the Sept. 16 meeting. She called the vote the beginning of a process that will include both planning commissions and the public.

Council member Jiro Johnson called the resolution a product of bipartisan work and an example of "what government is here for."

Salt Lake County Mayor Jenny Wilson said in a statement that data center construction is straining water and power resources faster than government oversight has kept pace. She said the pause gives staff and policymakers time to build a review process that is deliberate and transparent.

The vote comes as data center growth draws scrutiny across Utah and nationally. University of Utah research found that data centers initially lower local property tax rates, but equipment depreciation creates rate volatility over time, the Deseret News reported.

On the same day as the county vote, the U.S. House passed the Ratepayer Protection Act 417-3, according to the Deseret News. The bipartisan bill would require state utility regulators to consider holding data centers responsible for grid upgrade costs at facilities using at least 100 megawatts.

No public hearing dates for the planning commission reviews have been announced. Residents can track the process through the Salt Lake County Council's regular meetings.