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Flagstaff water commission presses for strict rules on data-center cooling, favors air-cooled baseline
Summary
Flagstaff's Water Commission reviewed a zoning-text amendment that would define 'data center' and subject such facilities to conditional-use review, added setbacks, noise controls and water-use disclosures. Commissioners signaled support for restricting water-based cooling (favoring air-cooled systems or strict closed-loop standards) and asked staff to refine technical language before Planning & Zoning and City Council review.
The Flagstaff City Water Commission on March 19 reviewed a proposed zoning-text amendment that would add a definition for "data center," limit the land use to heavy-industrial zones by conditional use permit and attach specific mitigation standards for noise, landscaping and water use.
Tiffany Antl, the city's zoning code manager, told the commission staff are not trying to "create the opportunity for data centers in our community" but to "create specific standards for something that's already allowed." The draft would require baseline noise studies, site-planning and architectural standards, screening of mechanical and electrical equipment, and a 200-foot setback where data centers would abut residential zoning under Planning & Zoning’s recommended language.
The proposal includes a robust CUP submittal checklist: estimates of peak,…
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