Will County has no zoning rules for data centers. If a developer proposed one of these massive facilities on unincorporated land, the county would have no clear standards to judge it by. The Will County Board can change that by passing an eight-month pause on new data center projects in unincorporated areas while it writes rules with public input.

Board Member Destinee Ortiz, a Democrat from Romeoville, has proposed exactly that. Her plan would give the county time to study how data centers could affect water and electricity supplies, roads and other infrastructure, stormwater, noise, and the people living next door. It also calls for a public hearing on the new rules. "Starting a public hearing process gives residents a way to ask those questions in the open," Ortiz said in a news release announcing the proposal.

The idea came from residents who raised concerns at a recent town hall. And it has worked nearby: Lake County adopted a similar eight-month pause after holding a public hearing on data center zoning.

The timing matters. According to Ortiz, no data center projects are known to be in the pipeline for unincorporated Will County right now. That makes this the moment to set clear rules, before a proposal arrives instead of after. In Joliet, a 795-acre data center approved by the city in March drew packed meetings and deep disagreement, and the debate has led to a data center question on the Nov. 3 ballot in Joliet Township.

Careful planning protects everyone: homeowners, farmers, local businesses, and landowners who may one day want to sell or develop their property.

Sign the petition to urge the Will County Board to pass the data center moratorium and put public rules in place before the first project arrives.