Flagstaff staff recommends conditional permits and strict water, noise and renewable-energy limits for data centers

Planning staff on Wednesday recommended that the Flagstaff Planning and Zoning Commission recommend to City Council a zoning text amendment that would make data centers subject to conditional-use permits and impose limits on water use, low-frequency and overall noise, and a strict renewable-energy expectation.

Tiffany, the staff presenter, said the city has two options under review: add a specific definition for "data center" and require conditional-use permits for those facilities, or ban data centers as a primary use by placing the prohibition in the code definition. "Data centers would currently be considered a permitted use in the heavy industrial and the heavy industrial open zone and would be a conditional use in the light industrial zone," she said, noting staff had been asked to take a proactive look at whether the current code and zones are appropriate.

Why it matters: the proposals respond to resident and stakeholder concerns about water consumption, noise (including low-frequency "feelable" sound), and energy use. Tiffany said staff is trying to reconcile General Plan goals on carbon neutrality, maintaining natural quiet and protecting scarce water resources with the practicalities of where industrial uses can be located.

The staff-backed proposal would add a land-use definition for data centers, require conditional-use permits (subject to Planning and Zoning review and appeal to…