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Staff proposes making data centers conditional use to allow case-by-case review
Summary
City planning staff told the commission they will prepare a zoning text amendment to change certain data-center uses from permitted to conditional so the city can review potential impacts on a case-by-case basis. Staff said they will present the amendment to the City Council and then to the commission, likely in November.
City planning staff told the Planning and Zoning Commission on Oct. 6 that they plan to submit a zoning-text amendment to reclassify certain data centers from permitted uses to conditional uses so that any future applications can be reviewed and conditioned as appropriate.
The staff presentation explained the change is procedural and would not alter the substantive regulatory requirements for data centers but would move the use from "permitted" to "conditional" in the zoning code so staff and the commission can evaluate individual project impacts. Staff said the current NAICS categorization for data centers is under the 2012 code; the city is considering moving to the 2022 NAICS code but has paused that larger recodification while dealing with a surge of inquiries.
Staff said they will update the City Council and then bring the text amendment to the commission, with an anticipated appearance in the second meeting in November. "I'm going to be submitting a text amendment that would change them to a conditional use," staff said during the department report.
No formal application for a new data center was under review at the Oct. 6 meeting; staff described the change as a precautionary measure to ensure applications can be reviewed for impacts and conditions if and when proposals are submitted.
