Aurora officials detail four‑part data‑center ordinance as Champagne County task force weighs rules

Aurora officials told the Champaign County Data Center Activities Task Force that the city’s recent response to a surge of data‑center proposals combined a short moratorium with a four‑part regulatory package designed to protect neighbors while allowing conditioned development.

“Data centers were being treated as warehouses and there was no public notice required,” said John Lash, who introduced Aurora’s process and timeline. He described a moratorium followed by a public survey and an iterative drafting process that led the city council to adopt coordinated zoning, building, code and industrial standards this spring.

Aurora’s package requires a local definition of “data center” and treats all new facilities as conditional uses, meaning public hearings and City Council approval are required. The city also adopted public‑notice rules (online posting, newspaper publication, mailed notice to nearby residents) and required utilities support letters for proposed load sizes.

Lash and Allison Lindberg, Aurora’s director of sustainability, said the standards target four areas the community raised repeatedly: noise and vibration, water use, energy use and transparency. “We needed predictable rules to help protect our residents and provide clarity for developers,” Lindberg said.

Key provisions Aurora shared with the task force include: - Zoning and process: a clear data‑center definition…