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Sugar Grove board moves to treat data centers as special use while it tightens rules
Summary
Trustees agreed to move portions of the village’s industrial zoning (M‑1) to a special‑use designation and directed staff to research stricter standards — including noise limits, water caps and building heights — rather than impose an immediate moratorium.
The Village of Sugar Grove board on March 31 directed staff to begin rewriting the village’s data‑center regulations and to move at least the M‑1 zoning designation to a special‑use status while those changes are developed. The board did not adopt a moratorium, saying members wanted time to study impacts from the first local data center before making a broader ban.
The discussion opened with staff framing four options: leave the 2022 data‑center district in place; amend individual requirements such as building height; remove the special district and regulate data centers as permitted or special uses in other industrial zones; or ban data centers entirely. President Stowell said he would favor a moratorium but acknowledged the board lacked the votes. “I personally would like to see a moratorium on data centers,” he said, but trustees ultimately agreed to pursue a special‑use pathway as a stopgap while staff drafts stricter standards.
Board members and staff emphasized several specific concerns they want addressed in the rewrite: noise limits and distance buffers modeled on Aurora’s ordinance; wastewater limits (the current code imposes a wastewater standard of six population equivalents per acre); building height and setback adjustments; and explicit provisions for transparency and periodic energy or water audits. A village staff power expert told the board that electricity pricing in the ComEd zone is regional, so higher regional demand from data centers can increase rates across multiple municipalities, not just immediately adjacent towns.
Trustees split between economic development considerations and infrastructure and quality‑of‑life concerns. One trustee argued data centers help diversify the tax base and typically produce low truck traffic, while others said the village should first evaluate the impacts of the single proposed data center already on the table. Several trustees asked staff to review Aurora’s ordinance and similar models and to return draft text amendments to the planning commission for a public hearing. Staff said any eventual rezoning or text amendment would require planning‑commission review and public hearings.
What happens next: staff will compile research (including neighboring ordinances such as Aurora’s), draft potential language for chapter 10B and the permitted‑use table, and post materials for public comment. Trustees said they want the changes completed after the budget season and recommended public outreach and planning‑commission hearings before any final action.
