County looks to change zoning at dam facilities; add data center definition
Cascade County Commissioners voted unanimously during their March 10 meeting to ask the county planning board to review zoning changes for 14 parcels owned by NorthWestern Energy and consider adding ‘data center’ to the zoning regulations.
The 14 properties are along the northern side of the Missouri River and include those containing the active hydroelectric Black Eagle and Rainbow powerhouse sites. The parcels are currently zoning ‘open space,’ a designation that is contrary to the dominant used of the land as power generating facilities regulated by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.
The proposal is to change those 14 parcels from open space to agricultural zoning, which would allow the existing electricity generation uses.
Since the commission voted to ask the planning board to consider the zoning changes and the definition addition, the planning board will review the items at a regular meeting and then go through the regular process to make zone changes if they choose to do so. That process includes public notices and public hearings. The planning board would consider the changes that would then go before the commission for final approval with more public notices and public hearings.
This particular zoning issue came up as NorthWestern Energy and Susteen Inc. have been discussing a lease agreement for the historic Rainbow Powerhouse for the development of a blockchain data center. FERC has approved the use, but now NorthWestern and Susteen are working out the details.
Data center considered as possible reuse for historic Rainbow Powerhouse
Earlier this year, planning staff was approached regarding development requirements on the site and identified several areas of concern including the zoning incompatability.
Turns out, the power company had completed significant improvements, including building a new powerhouse that became operational in 2013, without going through the county zoning process.
Efforts continuing to save Rainbow Powerhouse from demolition
“NorthWestern Energy has conducted several extensive upgrades to the facility in the past, however failed to follow the standard permitting process, which would have likely been impeded by the current zoning designation. It is anticipated that future upgrades to Rainbow or Cochrane dams could be impeded by the current zoning designation.
In the interest of resolving the outstanding zoning issue with the Rainbow Dam powerplant, and facilitating the establishment of an emerging modem land-use,” the county staff recommends sending the issue to the county planning board, according to the staff report.
Public meeting is Thursday on repurposing the Rainbow Powerhouse
During the March 10 meeting, Commissioner Joe Briggs said that when that was going on, the county was approached by the power company about issues with the road, but the zoning incompatibility was never raised by anyone.
Meaning that the existing facilities and the most recently constructed facility, are all in violation of county zoning as it currently stands.
Briggs said the county went to county-wide zoning in 2005, officials attempted to assign zoning compatible with existing and historical uses, but some errors were made and for the following few years, those errors were corrected as they were caught.
Cascade County zoning regulations continue to evolve since 2005 creation
As for the power company’s parcels now in questions, Briggs said, “I can’t imagine how this was missed.”
Briggs said he viewed this proposed change “as a correction to an error made previously.”
Under the county’s current zoning regulations, data center is not specifically mentioned as an allowable use, meaning it would only be allowable in heavy industrial districts.
Adding the definition as an allowable use to the county regulations would allow the proposed development of a data center at the historic Rainbow Powerhouse, since those specific use callouts are used in permitting.
