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Brainerd planning commission begins drafting data‑center ordinance, debates noise, location, permits and energy standards
Summary
Commissioners and staff spent the Dec. 18 meeting hashing out a preliminary ordinance to regulate data centers (including crypto mining), focusing on whether to require conditional use permits instead of interim permits, how to measure and mitigate 24/7 noise, location buffers (500 feet proposed), hazardous-waste plans, notification radius and potential energy/renewable requirements.
The Brainerd City Planning Commission spent the largest portion of its Dec. 18 meeting discussing a preliminary ordinance to regulate data centers, a category the draft defines to include commercial crypto mining, AI centers and cloud-storage facilities.
Staff recommended that data centers be treated as a distinct allowed use and regulated through conditional use permits (CUPs) rather than five‑year interim use permits (IUPs). Staff and several commissioners said a CUP provides durable authority to condition operations, require mitigation and revoke approval if a business violates permit conditions; operators countered that five‑year limits can undermine long-term investment decisions.
Noise dominated the conversation…
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