Scope
Tukwila Ordinance No. 2795 enacts a moratorium on the acceptance, processing, and/or approval of applications to establish or expand internet data centers, either as a principal or accessory use, or change of use to internet data centers, in all zoning districts in the City of Tukwila. The moratorium only applies to internet data centers having capacity in excess of 20 megavolt amperes (MVA), applies prospectively to permit applications submitted after the ordinance's effective date, and does not limit the vested rights of an applicant who filed a completed permit application before that date.
- Geographic scope
- Tukwila, Washington
- Jurisdiction
- Local
- Authority type
- Local government
- Issuing authority
- Tukwila City Council
Dates
- Adopted
- 3 August 2026
- Effective
- 3 August 2026
- Scheduled expiration
- 3 August 2027
- Ended
- Not recorded as ended
- Completion condition
- Section 10 states that the ordinance takes effect immediately upon passage and expires automatically one year from its passage unless extended or terminated earlier by subsequent Council action; Section 4 sets the same one-year period from the effective date. No calendar end date is printed; the stored 3 August 2027 is computed as one year from passage on 3 August 2026.
- Source document
- 3 August 2026
- Last checked
- 30 October 2026
Summary
The Tukwila City Council passed Ordinance No. 2795 on 3 August 2026 as an emergency ordinance establishing a one-year moratorium on accepting, processing or approving applications to establish, expand or change use to internet data centers with capacity over 20 MVA anywhere in the city. The ordinance took effect immediately upon passage and expires automatically one year after passage unless the Council extends or ends it earlier. Completed permit applications filed before the effective date keep their vested rights. It is a temporary pause on new applications, not a permanent prohibition, and it does not order existing facilities to shut down.
What this does not establish
- The end date of 3 August 2027 is computed from the one-year term counted from passage on 3 August 2026; the ordinance prints no calendar end date.
- The ordinance set a public hearing for 21 September 2026; whether the Council adopted further findings or changed the ordinance at or after that hearing was not checked.
- The copy reviewed is the ordinance as posted on the city's code publisher site, with its summary publication notice of 6 August 2026.
Unresolved questions
- Whether the Council extends or ends the ordinance's moratorium before 3 August 2027.
Relationships
Supersession means a later instrument replaces the earlier legal effect. Repeal links identify the repeal instrument and the measure it ends. A later implementation or related letter is not treated as a replacement unless the record says so.
- No related action is recorded.
Sources
Primary source: Tukwila City Council page on ecode360.com