Commission hears master-plan update, flood-resources announcement and discusses data center land-use options

At its May 20 meeting the St. Charles County Planning and Zoning Commission received staff updates about a new county flood-resources web page, learned that the master plan steering committee will review a full draft next week, and discussed how the county should treat data centers in its future land-use guidance.

Robert announced a new St. Charles County flooding resource page (sccmo.org/24202) that allows property owners and residents to look up flood risk, download elevation certificates on file, sign up for flood alerts and report storm damage. Robert emphasized that flood insurance can still be useful outside mapped flood zones, saying, "You can get flood insurance whether or not you live in a flood zone," and cited FEMA data that about 40% of NFIP claims are for buildings outside flood zones.

Robert also told the commission the master plan steering committee will review a full draft of the county master plan and the 2030 future land use maps at a meeting next Thursday; staff described a proposed, more nuanced approach that would factor natural constraints such as steep slopes, flood zones and tree stands when mapping suitable future land uses.

Commissioners raised the growing presence of data centers and the difficulty of fitting all sizes of facilities into existing land-use categories. A commissioner suggested that the county consider treating data centers through conditional use permits or by adopting an ordinance to govern siting and utility coordination: "It would be my suggestion ... all data centers should probably be under a conditional use permit," the commissioner said. Staff and commissioners discussed a range of data-center scales and cooling systems — from truck-sized micro centers to campuses of hundreds of acres — and noted differing impacts on electricity and water depending on cooling design (staff gave an example of a project designed to be about 93% air-cooled and 7% water-cooled).

Several members emphasized the need to coordinate with utilities and to review whether the county’s zoning categories and the proposed master plan language adequately address large computing facilities. Staff said they will bring notes from the steering committee process back to the commission as the master plan proceeds through review.

Procedural items at the end of the meeting included tabling the election of 2026 Planning and Zoning Commission officers to the next meeting and approval of the March 18 minutes. The meeting adjourned after those items were handled.