Data center operators Stack Infrastructure and Aligned Data Centers managed to submit a pair of applications for new data center projects hours before a moratorium was enacted in Hillsboro, Oregon.

Stack submitted a proposal for a development review related to its POR01 data center, a 4MW facility located close to the 24MW POR02 and the POR03 campus, which is set to offer 200MW of capacity at full build-out.

“Revision of existing entitlements for data center campus” is all the information provided in the proposal.

Aligned’s proposal is a pre-application request that concerns the proposed PDX-02 data center, which is the second phase of a planned 108MW campus at NE 30th Ave. & NE Evergreen Road. The first phase, called PDX-01, is expected to offer 72MW of critical capacity, whilst PDX-02 is expected to provide 36MW.

Both of these proposals are listed on the Hillsboro City Council’s planning website as “in review”, having been submitted hours before the council voted on Monday, July 27, to enact a 120-day moratorium on land use applications for new or expanded data centers and BESS facilities.

“This temporary moratorium gives us the opportunity to thoughtfully develop regulations that balance innovation, economic opportunity, and the quality of life our community values,” said Hillsboro City Mayor Beach Pace.

Hillsboro’s code and policy project manager Rachel Marble told the Forest Grove News Times that Aligned’s preapplication request was not exempt from the moratorium because it was not a formal application for a data center. Stack’s proposal will continue to go through the review process.

Hillsboro is a major data center hub in Oregon, home to several other data center operators, including Flexential, QTS, and EdgeConneX.