Rio Communities planning commission moves to tightly define large data centers, schedules July workshops

The Rio Communities Planning & Zoning Commission spent its June 17 workshop focused on how to define and regulate data centers after a staff presentation that outlined water, power and noise impacts and described different cooling and deployment technologies.

Commissioner Jim Winters and city staff walked the panel through national and regional examples, noting a Los Lunas facility described in the packet at roughly 1.5 million square feet and a quoted annual water use figure the presentation listed at about 75 million gallons. Commissioners raised water availability and utility capacity as immediate constraints for any large facility proposed within or near the city’s industrial areas.

Why it matters: commissioners said Rio Communities lacks a clear, narrow definition and zoning assignment for data centers that would let the city prohibit large facilities from residential and sensitive areas while permitting smaller, modular or emergency systems. Members flagged three regulatory levers: (1) prohibiting data centers in residential zones, (2) requiring minimum buffers and decibel limits at property lines for industrial/manufacturing sites, and (3) establishing fee-for-service technical review so outside consultants are not paid by the city.

City staff described several cooling approaches — including water-based systems, glycol solvents and CO2/dry-ice systems — and discussed tradeoffs of toxicity, efficiency and reclaimed water use. The commission also reviewed noise expectations (presented decibel examples for gas-fired backup generators at roughly 65–80 dB) and asked staff to identify reliable measurement protocols and enforcement paths.

On timing and legal risk: commissioners compared their approach to a one-year moratorium used by another county to buy time to adopt standards. Members said moratoria provide breathing room but can expose a municipality to legal challenges and prolonged litigation; the commission concluded it would prioritize drafting narrow ordinance language and technical review procedures rather than immediately seeking a moratorium.

Process and next steps: commissioners assigned small groups to refine the proposed definitions and the list of minor revisions highlighted in the packet. They agreed to meet in a workshop on July 2 (3:00 p.m. workshop, 4:00 p.m. meeting) to consider definitions 1–40 and to prepare a recommended data-center definition for City Council. Additional meetings were set for July 16 and August 6 for follow-up. Staff said it will coordinate with the city attorney and provide draft prohibited-zone language and sample zoning text for the commission to consider.

The meeting closed after a brief procedural motion to adjourn.