Goodyear nears adoption of rewritten zoning code; new rules proposed for battery storage and data centers

Christian Williams, planning manager, briefed the council June 15 on the city’s zoning ordinance rewrite and highlighted three areas that generated the most public and stakeholder comment: battery energy storage systems (BESS), data centers, and noticing.

Williams said the team has worked with developers, utilities and the fire department and believes a compromise has been reached on BESS standards. "When BES is located next to industrial zoning districts, the distance that we are proposing is 100 feet. It will retain the 150 feet next to commercial uses. The starting distance would be 330 when adjacent to residential districts. That number can be reduced down to 150 through the special use permit process with the inclusion of a plume and toxic gases study," he said.

On data centers, staff proposed maintaining a 300‑foot separation from residential uses to reduce noise impacts and said the city’s existing data centers already meet that standard. Williams said the draft also adds broad noise provisions that apply across land uses and includes provisions addressing backup generators: "There are specific guidelines in there specifically concerning the backup generators, the time of their operation, and the notifications to the community as it relates to those generators going off," he said.

Staff also proposed increasing noticing buffers for public hearings: the existing 500‑foot buffer would be 600 feet for most application types, and PAD (Planned Area Development) applications would have a 1,200‑foot noticing radius. Williams said staff is codifying practices such as HOA notification and has modernized parking, signage (including edits to comply with Reed v. Gilbert), and industrial district flexibility for mechanical‑equipment screening.

Council members asked practical questions about implementation: how plume studies are procured and reviewed (staff said the applicant must hire a third‑party, stamped consultant and submit a plume narrative with SUP materials for staff and fire review), whether manufactured homes not in manufactured‑home subdivisions must meet design standards (staff: yes), and continued engagement with key stakeholders including Microsoft, which staff said they are working with directly.

Next steps: the public‑hearing draft will go to the Planning & Zoning Commission on July 1 and return to council for a final public hearing and possible adoption on July 6. Staff will post redlines if clarifying edits are made between now and the hearing and will follow up with council on requests for specific detail (detector photos for traffic, additional noise metrics for data centers, and stakeholder meeting notes).