Salem council to weigh code interpretation excluding AI and hyperscale data centers; hearing set for Nov. 9 (Oct. 29)
Quick Read
The Salem City Council will hold a public hearing at 6 p.m. Monday, Nov. 9, on Resolution No. 2026-46, according to a city notice published Thursday.
The resolution would find that "data center facilities" in Salem's development code means the kind of data centers common in 2013 and 2014, and that AI and hyperscale data centers fit no use category in the code.
The notice does not name any project. Verrus has proposed an AI data center campus called Oakline at Mill Creek in southeast Salem, and the city already has a 120-day data center moratorium in place.
Written testimony is due by 5 p.m. Nov. 9 to cityrecorder@cityofsalem.net, and the staff report is due out Nov. 2.
SALEM, Ore. - The Salem City Council will consider formally declaring that artificial intelligence and hyperscale data centers are not covered by any use category in the city's development code, according to a public hearing notice the city published Thursday, Oct. 29, through Salem Reporter's public notice service.
The hearing on Resolution No. 2026-46 is set for 6 p.m. Monday, Nov. 9, at Loucks Auditorium in the Salem Public Library, 585 Liberty St. SE.
What the resolution would do
The resolution adopts an interpretation of one section of the Salem Revised Code, SRC 400.110(e), which uses the term "data center facilities." According to the notice, the council would find that the term means "data centers that were common and prevalent in Salem and Oregon in 2013-2014," when the city wrote that classification into its Unified Development Code.
The interpretation goes further. It would find that AI and hyperscale data centers "are not included within that classification, nor are they included in any other classification" in the development code, the notice says.
The notice does not mention any company or pending application, and it does not say how the interpretation would apply to projects already under review. Those details may be in the city staff report, which the notice says will be available from staff by 5 p.m. Monday, Nov. 2, and posted on the city's council meetings page by 5 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 5.
How Salem got here
The largest data center proposal in Salem is Oakline at Mill Creek, an AI data center campus that Silicon Valley developer Verrus wants to build in the Mill Creek Corporate Center in southeast Salem, Salem Reporter reported. The first phase covers two buildings on roughly 100 acres of privately owned land. Verrus filed its land use application in July, and the city deemed it incomplete in August and asked for more information, according to Salem Reporter.
On Aug. 3, city staff recommended the council start the process for a moratorium on AI data centers so the city could update its land use and public facility rules, according to the council agenda. The staff report described AI data centers as facilities designed to support artificial intelligence computing, "commonly referred to as hyperscale data centers" because of their computing capacity and their demands for electricity, water, land and other public infrastructure.
The council adopted a moratorium, Resolution No. 2026-40, on Sept. 21 by a 7-0 vote, with Councilors Deanna Gwyn and Mai Vang absent, according to the meeting minutes. The moratorium lasts 120 days and can be extended by six months. Salem Reporter reported that the city must keep processing the Verrus application, which was filed before the moratorium, but that Verrus cannot build while the moratorium is in effect.
State action has added more hurdles. In an Oct. 9 letter, Gov. Tina Kotek asked the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality to pause air and water discharge permits for new or expanded data centers until July 1, 2027. OPB reported that without those permits, most large hyperscale data centers could not be built in Oregon. Verrus' planned second phase, a third building on about 32 acres of state-owned land, also stalled when Kotek blocked the sale of that property in July, Salem Reporter reported. Willamette News covered the permit pause and the Verrus project on Oct. 15.
What the other side has said
Willamette News did not find a public response from Verrus to the proposed interpretation as of Thursday morning. After Kotek's permit order, Verrus spokesperson JP Newmann told Salem Reporter that "the governor's request to DEQ does not impact Verrus' project at this stage" and that the company was focused on completing its land use application with the city.
Others in the industry and some local governments have pushed back on the state's limits. Amazon, which runs Oregon's largest data centers, said Kotek's order "has broad implications for Oregon's economy," according to The Oregonian/OregonLive. In Eastern Oregon, the city of Umatilla declared a state of emergency over the state's moratorium, saying that preventing future data centers could cost the community millions, OPB reported Wednesday.
How to weigh in
Written testimony must be submitted by 5 p.m. on Nov. 9, by email to cityrecorder@cityofsalem.net or by mail to the City Recorder's Office, 440 Church St. SE, Salem, OR 97301, according to the notice.
People can testify in person at the library or remotely over Zoom. To testify remotely, sign up between 8 a.m. and 3 p.m. on the day of the meeting at cityofsalem.net/comment-at-council. The meeting will also stream on the CC:Media YouTube channel and air on Comcast Cable CC:Media Channel 21.
The notice also carries a legal warning: anyone who does not raise an issue, in person, remotely or in writing, before the hearing closes may lose the ability to appeal that issue to the Oregon Land Use Board of Appeals. Questions and requests for the staff report go to the City Recorder at 503-588-6097.
What's next
The staff report is due Nov. 2, followed by the Nov. 9 hearing. The 120-day moratorium adopted Sept. 21 runs until Jan. 19, 2027, unless the council extends it. Willamette News will review the staff report when it is released and update this story with what it says about pending applications.
Sources
City of Salem public hearing notice, Resolution No. 2026-46 (published Oct. 29, 2026, via Salem Reporter)
Salem Reporter: Public notice: Salem City Council public hearing - data centers (Oct. 29, 2026)
Salem Reporter: Verrus says Kotek's pause on DEQ permits won't affect current stage of Salem data center project, by Joe Siess (Oct. 14, 2026)
City of Salem council agenda: Consideration of the initiation of a moratorium on AI data centers (Aug. 3, 2026)
City of Salem council minutes: Special meeting, Sept. 21, 2026
Gov. Tina Kotek letter to DEQ (Oct. 9, 2026, posted by OPB)
OPB: Gov. Kotek expands Oregon data center moratorium (Oct. 13, 2026)
The Oregonian/OregonLive: Oregon Gov. Kotek orders halt to data center air, water permitting, by Mike Rogoway (Oct. 2026)
OPB: City of Umatilla declares a state of emergency over Kotek's data center moratorium (Oct. 28, 2026)
Cover photo: Pathway in front of Salem City Hall, by N9002U, via Wikimedia Commons, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
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