MONUMENT — The Town Council signaled on June 15 that it does not want data centers in town, pressing staff to draft a moratorium — “the longest amount of time we are legally allowed” — while it writes rules that would restrict, or effectively bar, the energy- and water-hungry facilities.
The direction went further than staff had proposed. Senior planner Jenna Gorney, echoing a May 13 Planning Commission recommendation, suggested defining data centers as a regulated use and folding standards into the town’s Title 18 code rewrite and comprehensive-plan update. She cautioned that a moratorium “starts a clock” the town would then have to beat, and said staff’s intent was to take no measures “in the interim” and “just [write] the code update.” The council wanted the pause anyway.
No data-center application is pending in Monument. But the question is no longer hypothetical along the Front Range: Colorado Springs recently approved one administratively, Denver adopted a one-year moratorium on May 18, and Larimer County’s runs through Aug. 25. The fight over a proposed facility near Garden of the Gods has drawn regional attention.
The objections were practical and pointed. Councilmember Kenneth Kimple pushed hardest, calling for a one-year moratorium followed by a “flat-out ban,” and later declaring himself “a hard no,” citing the facilities’ proximity to homes; he said he would rather see an overlay district set aside for a community sports complex than a data center. Mayor Pro Tem Steve King pointed to water — even a low-end facility can draw “300,000 gallons of water a day,” he said, in a “semi-arid climate” already scrambling for supply, and warned the heat load would raise local temperatures. Mayor Mitch LaKind tied any pause to the town’s strategic plan, which never contemplated data centers; absent that fit, he said, he was “for the moratorium.” Members also raised noise, wastewater, wildfire exposure in the wildland-urban interface, and the few jobs the facilities bring relative to their footprint. The town, several said, had already “done its share” of warehouses and had nowhere suitable to put one.
The council was not unanimous. Councilmember Marco Fiorito urged a more measured path: let staff research the issue, he argued, noting the industry is shifting toward smaller “micro” data centers and that surging regional demand — including a projected doubling of nearby Space Force operations — makes the facilities likely regardless. Councilmember Chad Smith went further, arguing the town should not “sit back” and become “a passive host” but instead “face it head on,” treating data centers as infrastructure to be shaped by code and used to strengthen the grid, protect water and expand broadband.
Town staff offered a caution: a use cannot simply be outlawed, only defined and restricted — “to the point where it almost can’t happen unless it’s the perfect scenario.” Staff will return with both a moratorium and draft regulations alongside the comprehensive plan.
Also at the June 15 meeting
A road tax may be headed for the November ballot. The council gave staff direction to advance a measure raising the town’s use tax by 1.5%, to 3.5% — matching the sales tax — with the proceeds dedicated to roads, including the long-sought Jackson Creek Parkway widening. A May survey of 636 voters by Mellan Strategies, presented by analyst Courtney Sievers, found support climbing from 39% to 64% once respondents learned the tax falls mainly on developers and builders buying construction materials out of state. Councilmember Marco Fiorito urged putting it to voters — it “won’t stop” growth, he said, “but it will focus it.” Mayor Pro Tem Steve King argued the change merely brings the use tax “in line” with the sales tax residents already pay and “isn’t penalizing anybody.” Mayor Mitch LaKind mused that pricing development closer to neighboring Castle Rock’s levels might even slow Monument’s growth, and pressed for an education campaign so residents “know it’s coming” — within the legal limit that bars the town from urging a yes vote. Ballot language must still return for council approval; the certification deadline falls in late summer.
Three officers honored. Police Chief Patrick Regan administered the oath of office to Officers Cameron Brown and Brandon Cordova and to newly promoted Sergeant Josh Teeples.
Consent agenda, 7–0. The council approved its consent agenda without dissent, including a $56,538 crack-seal machine for the streets crew and an intergovernmental agreement with El Paso County over federal Community Development Block Grant funds for 2027–2029.
A state housing law, explained. Doug Stallworthy, an attorney with Collins Cole Winn & Ulmer — the firm that serves as Monument’s town attorney — briefed the council on HB 26-1001, the “HOME Act,” which steers affordable-housing projects by qualifying nonprofits and public entities toward administrative approval and limits some local discretion. Numerous exemptions — floodways, lack of utilities, industrial and agricultural zoning, historic districts — narrow its reach in Monument. The town will fold compliance into its Title 18 rewrite ahead of a December 2027 deadline.
Public comment. Patrick Doherty, a McShane Place resident with a background in horticulture, urged the town to stop replanting lakeside trees that deer keep stripping, at roughly $1,800 apiece. Jaydon Anderson described repeated trespassing — cut fences, illicit mountain-bike trails — on family ranch land abutting the Forest Lakes development, which lies in unincorporated El Paso County, outside town limits.
Executive session. The council met privately on the town manager’s performance evaluation and on strategy for future water-supply negotiations, then adjourned with no action.
Source: a video recording of the June 15, 2026 Town Council study session and regular meeting, via the town’s CivicClerk portal. Official minutes had not been approved as of publication; this account was prepared from the recording, transcribed with the assistance of AI. The Monument Independent made a good-faith effort to attribute remarks and quotations accurately and will reconcile this account with the official minutes once they are approved. Spotted an error? Tell us via our corrections page. All seven members — Mayor Mitch LaKind, Mayor Pro Tem Steve King, and councilmembers Sana Abbott, Marco Fiorito, Kenneth Kimple, Laura Kronick and Chad Smith — were present. Every recorded council vote is logged in BoardWatch.
