The council took time last week to alter language in the moratorium. The moratorium now includes structures of 200,000 sf in size. The original language prohibited only structures exceeding 200,000 sf. The change removes the financial incentive for someone to develop a bunch of 200,000-sf buildings to get around the moratorium and still take advantage of a sales tax exemption that can be had on construction materials and certain equipment bought for new buildings of 200,000 sf or larger.

The discussion now is set for Sept. 22. The moratorium is set to expire Nov. 26, but the council has the authority to extend it another six months. A Hawks Prairie property owner has since sued the city over the moratorium.

The council imposed the moratorium in late May because of concerns that ending up with only distribution uses in the Hawk's Prairie area might not produce adequate job growth while likely deteriorating local roads more rapidly than other uses because of the associated truck traffic. At the time, three developers had tied up land in the Hawk's Prairie area and were showing interest in developing an additional 5.1 million sf of distribution space.