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Tucson staff propose zoning standards for large-scale data centers, outline review process and resource disclosure
Summary
City planning staff proposed zoning standards that would define large-scale data centers (proposed threshold: 50,000 sq ft), limit locations to heavy-industrial zones, require broader neighborhood notice, require applicants to demonstrate access to water and energy and disclose energy mix, and impose setbacks, noise studies and generator limits.
City of Tucson planning staff on a community outreach night laid out draft zoning rules intended to set “guardrails” for large-scale data centers, saying the rules would create a public-review pathway and new development standards rather than leave outcomes to individual applicants.
Corin Manning, director of the Department of Planning and Development Services, said the work follows mayor-and-council direction after Project Blue prompted public concern and that the city is acting proactively to define and regulate the use. "We're trying to establish clear and enforceable guidelines in advance of future proposals," Manning said.
Carver Stru, a principal planner, described the proposed definition and permit process. Staff proposes classifying a facility as a "large-scale data center" if it exceeds a 50,000-square-foot threshold and would allow such projects primarily in the I2 (heavy industrial) zoning district. Staff recommends permitting through a Mayor and Council special-exception review or a planned area/community development process, each of which would require a neighborhood meeting, a public hearing before the zoning examiner and final consideration by mayor and council.
The draft rules would also expand neighborhood meeting notice (proposed: property-owner notice to a half-mile and neighborhood-association notice to two miles) and require applicants to demonstrate access to adequate energy and water at the time of application and to disclose the proposed amount of energy and the energy mix, staff said.
Tucson Water deputy director Scott Schwab explained the related Large Quantity Water Users ordinance the city adopted last August and said it establishes a threshold of 10,000 CCF (about 7.4–7.5 million gallons per month, annual average) and requires a sustainable water service application and a conservation plan before mayor-and-council approval. "That threshold was set at 10,000 CCF or that was the equivalent of about 7.4 7.5 million gallons per month," Schwab said, noting the ordinance applies to any development that meets the threshold and that reclaimed-water users already in the system were considered in the ordinance design.
Staff emphasized that state law limits what zoning can require — zoning can regulate location, setbacks, building form and similar development standards, but not all aspects of water and energy policy — so the proposed approach pairs zoning with the water-ordinance and other policies.
On environmental and site standards, the draft would require: a minimum 400-foot setback from urban residential and other noise-sensitive areas and 200-foot setbacks from commercial/office uses; an independent noise study and property-line noise limits; enhanced 20-foot landscaping buffers with drought-tolerant plantings; limits on impervious surfaces and a minimum landscape rainwater-harvesting requirement (50% of landscape demand); and generator rules that prioritize battery backups, require higher-efficiency generators and limit non-emergency maintenance to weekday daytime hours.
Staff said the proposal is advisory at this stage: the city will brief mayor and council in an April study session, continue to accept written feedback (survey and written submissions will be posted publicly), then proceed to planning commission and a formal public hearing before mayor and council if directed.
The staff presentation included technical-advisory-committee input and a promise that all written comments would be provided to decision-makers. "We will be taking all of this feedback to mayor and council in the next month or so to give them an update on what we've heard so far," a staff member said.
Next steps: staff said the survey on the proposal will remain open for comment through the month, staff will present the work to mayor and council at a study session, and subsequent planning commission review and mayor-and-council consideration would follow.
Ending note: this meeting was informational; no votes or final decisions were taken.
