Mount Vernon council extends moratorium on BESS facilities

MOUNT VERNON - The Mount Vernon City Council voted Wednesday to extend the city's moratorium on battery energy storage systems, or BESS, for six months while the city continues to develop permanent regulations.

The moratorium restricts the city from accepting applications for the siting, developing and constructing of BESS facilities. The moratorium has been in place since May 2025.

Mount Vernon Principal Planner Rebecca Lowell told the council Wednesday that the city placed a moratorium on BESS facilities because the city code didn't have an allowance for them.

Lowell said that developing regulations on BESS facilities is important because, without proper regulations, BESS facilities could have a negative impact on the city.

"There is reasonable evidence to suggest that siting one of these (BESS) facilities could have significant negative impacts if we are not careful with crafting regulations to allow them within the city," Lowell said.

The moratorium may need to be extended again in six months. Lowell said she's unsure if the city will finish its work plan within six months, as it's dependent on the priorities set by city officials.

Councilmember Navor Tercero said that he'd like for city staff and council members to tour the BESS facility that has been constructed in Arlington. This would give them a chance to learn more about how the city regulates the project.

"We know that electricity is only going to become more scarce, and these battery storage facilities are going to be necessary if we're going to provide the public with the level of electrical capacity that we know we're going to need in the future," Tercero said.

The city council also approved Wednesday a traffic concurrency and a site plan permit for a new Veterans Affairs outpatient medical clinic at 1501 Continental Place in Mount Vernon.

The new clinic will be 26,723 square feet and will have 120 parking spaces.

"I'm so excited that we are bringing 26,000 square feet of care to our veterans," said Councilmember Melissa Beaton.

The city council also approved Wednesday a slew of budget amendments. The most sizable amendment was for the new Hillcrest Park inclusive playground.

The city will transfer about $672,000 from its general fund to cover the remaining cost of the project.

The 2026 adopted budget had $500,000 allotted for the Hillcrest Park playground because the city was unsure how much of the project could be finished in 2026, said city Finance Director Doug Volesky.

The total cost of the project is about $1.17 million. The project is set to be completed this summer.

Other budget amendments covered the costs of additional park improvement projects, the financing of the fire department's new ladder truck, and several salary changes for city positions.

The next Mount Vernon City Council meeting will be held June 10.

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This story was originally published May 29, 2026 at 5:56 PM.