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Wausau council adopts data-center zoning with 200-foot residential setback
Summary
The Wausau Common Council on July 14 adopted ordinance file 260706 adding data centers to the city zoning code and requiring applicants to disclose water, energy, wastewater and noise impacts; the ordinance was amended to require a 200-foot minimum distance from residential areas and passed unanimously.
The Wausau Common Council voted July 14 to add data centers to the municipal zoning code and to require applicants to disclose water use, energy demand, wastewater, noise and sustainability impacts during conditional-use review.
The measure, ordinance file 260706, was pulled from the consent agenda for discussion after several residents warned the council that the city needed clearer standards before welcoming data centers. Assistant city planner Carrie Edmondson told council members the ordinance focuses on impacts rather than naming specific technologies, and that conditional-use permits would be judged against five findings including compatibility with the comprehensive plan and whether a proposal would place an "undue burden" on public utilities or services.
Alder Watson successfully moved to amend the ordinance to add a supplemental standard requiring a minimum 200-foot separation between a data center and residential areas. "We could add an additional supplemental standard," Edmondson said during debate, noting the difference between building setbacks (30–50 feet) and supplemental distance requirements tied to conditional-use review. The amendment passed 8–3.
After discussion about metrics and the need to revisit the rules as technology evolves, the council adopted the ordinance as amended in a recorded vote of 11–0. Supporters and several council members said the rules create a framework to evaluate future proposals while retaining the flexibility to update standards.
Public commenters had pressed for a fuller, standalone hearing of the ordinance rather than handling it on a consent calendar; Arden Thornhill told the council the item deserved "a full public discussion with full public accountability." Edmondson said the city worked with a statewide municipal coalition and the city attorney's office in drafting the language and planned to reassess the rules in the early years after adoption.
The new ordinance adds data centers to Title 23 (zoning) and relies on conditional-use permit findings and supplemental standards to address impacts such as utility service, noise and environmental effects.
