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Commission approves conditional use permit for Lumen data center site, waives loading‑dock screening requirement
Summary
The planning commission granted a conditional use permit for a 6,000‑square‑foot Lumen facility that has operated on the site since 1999, modifying code screening requirements; staff required an ADA parking space and commissioners added a modification to loading‑dock screening.
The Reno City Planning Commission on Sept. 17 approved a conditional use permit for a Lumen Technologies facility (case LDC26‑00009) near the Keystone area, subject to staff conditions and with a modification to the code requirement for loading‑dock screening.
City staff associate planner Leah Piccati told commissioners the site is about 0.28 acres with an existing 6,000‑square‑foot building that has operated as a telecommunications facility since 1999. Piccati said business licensing recently audited the site and that a required business license had lapsed under the city’s updated data‑center rules; the lapse required the property to seek a conditional use permit rather than be treated as a legal nonconforming use.
Piccati said the site meets most Reno Municipal Code requirements for the General Commercial zoning district but noted the building lacked an ADA‑compliant parking space; staff included a condition requiring conversion of one of the three parking spaces to ADA. She also described new local data‑center standards that require loading‑dock screening where data‑center operations abut residential uses, and said those standards can be modified through the conditional use permit process.
Mario Tarragrosa of IMA Corporation, representing Lumen Technologies, said the building "has been operating since 1999 as a telecommunication gateway building" and that the facility is largely unmanned, with personnel visiting only for maintenance or to address equipment issues. Tarragrosa told the commission Lumen believes its electrical demand is under 2 megawatts and that the facility does not use water for equipment cooling — water use is limited to landscaping and restrooms.
A resident, Tom Durante, told the commission he remains concerned about noise, proximity to housing and the potential for future expansion. "I am concerned about the noise," he said, and asked whether the facility could grow over time.
Commissioners discussed whether to require the code’s screening measures (a masonry wall, 30‑foot enhanced landscaping with berm and wall, or another building between the loading area and residences) or to modify them in this case. Staff noted the site has operated for 26 years with no enforcement complaints and that nearby industrial properties already operate 24 hours with truck activity closer to the nonconforming residence.
After deliberation the commission approved the conditional use permit subject to staff conditions and with a modification of the Reno Municipal Code loading‑dock screening requirement. The motion passed unanimously.
The approval carries the standard condition that any expansion beyond the approved threshold would require return to the planning commission; staff noted in discussion that an expansion exceeding 10% would trigger additional review. The commission and staff also discussed adding hour limits on loading‑dock activity as a potential condition; the approved motion modified the screening requirement but did not add a specific nightly loading‑dock curfew.
