Developers are eyeing a new area in unincorporated Linn County for a data center, and two nearby cities want to work with the county to make sure their residents get a say.
Linn County planning director Charlie Nichols says there’s a high voltage transmission line that runs between Walford and Fairfax, which is attractive to data center developers.
“Walford was approached by a potential developer looking at a data center project within the unincorporated area, but near Walford city boundaries,” Nichols says. “I believe they were asked about annexation, but they did not want to pursue that.”
Nichols says officials with the town of Walford then approached Linn County about a “fringe area agreement” if a data center wants to build on county land within two miles of the city.
“In the foreseeable future within this area, there’s likely going to be development interest around that transmission line,” Nichols says, “and Walford is wanting to set an agreement in place that dictates how review of projects that would impact Walford’s growth proceed in the future.”
He says Linn County is supportive of the idea, while Fairfax is also interested in joining the arrangement.
Linn County has a data center moratorium in place through the end of 2027. The county is also putting together a regional data center advisory board to further broad collaboration around development.
