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Flagstaff staff presents data-center zoning options; public commenters press for a citywide ban
Summary
City staff presented a zoning text amendment to address data centers — limiting them to Heavy Industrial with conditional use permits and mitigation standards or, alternatively, a ban. Staff recommended extended analysis and more outreach; public commenters urged a ban citing water use, noise, emissions and limited local benefit.
City planning staff updated the council May 5 on a proposed zoning-code text amendment to address data centers and invited public comment.
Tiffany Ant Hall, the city’s zoning-code manager, said the draft amendment responds to growing statewide and national discussion about data-center expansion. Staff presented two approaches: confine data centers to Heavy Industrial zones with conditional-use review and specific use standards for design, noise, water and energy; or adopt an outright ban. Hall said the ban-focused draft was drafted quickly and lacked comprehensive public outreach and precise definitions, so staff recommended additional evaluation before any final action.
More than a half-dozen community speakers raised concerns during the public hearing. Members of Friends of Flagstaff’s Future and similar groups cited data centers’ high water consumption in arid regions, potential impacts to wastewater systems, noise and infrasound, and the limited and often nonlocal economic benefits beyond a one-time construction surge. A planning-and-zoning commissioner who spoke for herself said the conditional-use-permit process could be difficult to defend legally in Arizona and that tightly defining acceptable data-center types may leave loopholes. Commenters urged prompt code changes to avoid future proposals slipping through existing zoning gaps.
Staff and council emphasized the timeline: there are no received development applications for data centers in Flagstaff and no pre-application meetings to date. Council agreed with staff’s recommendation to close the public hearing for now to allow further analysis and outreach; staff said they will return with options that clarify definitions, identify impacts to existing uses and technologies, and evaluate economic and infrastructure implications.
What’s next: staff will conduct a comprehensive evaluation of the ban option and the draft code language, expand public outreach, and return to the Planning & Zoning Commission and city council with refined alternatives. Council did not vote on a code change during the May 5 meeting.
