SANDPOINT — Seeking to dispel concerns that city officials are encouraging the development of data centers in Sandpoint, Councilor Pam Duquette told those attending the July 15 council meeting that her goal is the opposite and would prohibit data centers in the city. 

Concerned residents and community members took to social media after reading the action item, with many expressing oppositions to the possibility of a data center in Sandpoint. Comments raised concerns about potential health impacts, developer influence and destruction of the city's character. 

However, Duquette told attendees the reasoning behind the action item was misconstrued. 

"I think people got the idea that we might be pushing data centers, and that is the farthest thing from my mind," said Duquette. 

Despite Duquette's disapproval, some community members pointed to the potential upsides of having a data center in the city. 

"Technological progress is what makes us wealthy, able to spend more time connecting with our families, collaborating with our communities and enjoying our surroundings," said one public commentator. 

A motion to define and bring forward an appropriate code to prohibit larger scale AI data centers in the city was unanimously approved by the council. 

Duquette's proposal came after she learned there was an allowable option for data centers in the city's industrial zoning code. 

"They're a big boom in Idaho at this point. They require huge demands of electricity and water. They cause many environmental concerns," she said of data centers. 

In an effort to "proactively get ahead" of developers seeking to build a data center in Sandpoint, Duquette said her intention is to preemptively ban the allowable option of data centers in the industrial code and to give staff direction to research whether eliminating data centers as an allowed option is feasible. 

After speaking with city planner Bill Dean and city attorney Fonda Jovik, Duquette said the decision to remove data centers as an allowable option from the zoning code would be fairly easy if the council was in agreement. 

"I think the logical process if council supports this is we need to define it, and we need to run it through the code," said Mayor Jeremy Grimm, adding that an on-premises, small, server firm that provides storage for a small company may be different than what Duquette had in mind. 

Councilor Joel Aispuro echoed Grimm's opinion, saying the need to establish a proper definition of data centers is important to prevent putting the city and residents in a position where they are "enslaved to a third party with their data." 

"I think it'd be very important that we're very precise in that because there is a decentralized aspect to this that's very important for people's privacy," said Aispuro. 

"Unfortunately, it's common for us to become aware of loopholes in our code," said Councilor Kyle Schreiber, adding that if a developer were to present a permit, it would be too late to act. 

"Something that a lot of people don't understand is that the city is legally required to follow the rules in place when the developer submits the application," said Schreiber, "If we change the rules preemptively, the developers don't have that right." 

Schreiber said the council can always make decisions on a case-to-case basis later, but establishing a change in the code is better than to "wait until it becomes an issue." 

"Timewise, it's relatively simple. It is simply coming up with a definition, swapping out, striking through one line of code and replacing it," Grimm said, adding that he expected the change to take about two months. "It's about as easy as it gets." 

"I look forward to having more details, parsing this out and trying to get it done as soon as we can," said Councilor Deb Ruehle.