Residents opposed to a massive data center planned for Broadview, in Yellowstone County, pressed county commissioners Thursday to impose temporary zoning restrictions on the project — only to hear from the county attorney that a 2025 state law may block that path, according to reporting by montanafreepress.org.

The Proposal and the Pushback

The planned development by Quantica Infrastructure would cover nearly eight square miles. Dozens of community members attended Thursday’s commission meeting to urge officials to enact interim zoning, a tool Montana law permits counties to use for up to one year when public health, safety, morals, or general welfare are at stake.

Billings attorney Gene Jarussi made the formal case for interim zoning, framing it as a neutral pause rather than an outright rejection of the project. “You’re not saying ‘no data center,’ you’re not saying ‘yes data center.’ That’s beyond you,” Jarussi told commissioners, as first reported by the Montana Free Press. He argued the law still allows local governments to act when a genuine emergency is tied to a specific proposed development.

The Legal Obstacle

Yellowstone County Attorney Scott Twito pushed back, pointing to the Right to Compute Act, passed by the Montana Legislature in 2025. The bill, sponsored by Sen. Daniel Zolnikov, R-Billings, passed the Senate 50-0 and cleared the House 61-38. It requires that any government action restricting technology use be narrowly tailored and that no less restrictive alternative exists.

The Montana Association of Counties has advised county officials that the law limits their options. MACo Executive Director Eric Bryson stated in written guidance that “issues like noise or compatibility with growth policies or zoning won’t suffice to restrict or control siting of data centers, in our opinion.”, as first reported by the Montana Free Press

Twito echoed that concern, arguing it would be difficult to demonstrate an emergency without concrete project details — such as confirmed noise levels — in hand. He also warned commissioners that moving forward with interim zoning would likely invite a lawsuit from Quantica Infrastructure. The Right to Compute Act has not yet been tested in court.

A Precedent From Iowa

Opponents pointed to Missoula County, which enacted similar interim zoning on data centers in July, as evidence that such action is possible. But the commission also heard a cautionary tale from Linn County, Iowa, where officials spent months negotiating a data center zoning ordinance with Google — only to see Google abandon the deal and pursue annexation with a nearby city to sidestep county restrictions entirely.

Where Things Stand

The Yellowstone County Board of Commissioners is not expected to act on the interim zoning request. The standoff illustrates a tension playing out across Montana between local governments seeking to manage large-scale technology infrastructure and a state law designed to limit those restrictions. Until the Right to Compute Act faces a court challenge, county officials appear to have limited tools to slow or shape data center development on their own terms.