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Defiance planners discuss draft standards for data centers; staff recommends conditional-use review
Summary
Planning staff briefed commissioners on draft criteria for data centers and recommended treating new facilities as conditional uses to be reviewed case-by-case; commissioners raised concerns about noise, cooling methods, and siting.
Planning staff and commissioners discussed draft zoning guidance for data centers during the May 18 meeting, with staff recommending conditional-use review so the city can evaluate projects case‑by‑case.
Niki Warncke, Zoning Commissioner and Planning staff, summarized three months of research and told the commission she "recommends the conditional use which can be issued on a case-by-case basis." Warncke said staff had prepared comparative tables and suggested criteria to address impacts such as noise and land coverage.
Commissioners and staff discussed possible impacts. Mayor Mike McCann and Commissioner Drew Shindler raised concerns about noise and vibrations, noting some generation and industrial facilities nearby already generate low hums or rumbling; McCann said the type of cooling matters, contrasting air-cooled systems (which use fans) and steam-cooled systems. McCann observed EPA review and state categories could influence siting and permitting.
Public attendee Josh Mast asked whether the city would limit the overall size of a data center; Law Director Sean O'Donnell pointed to Chapter 1173's land-coverage rules and said larger buildings could require variances. Staci Kaufman raised questions about heat plumes from data centers; commissioners agreed the site's location would affect impacts.
No formal motions or votes on zoning text were recorded; Warncke said she would like to forward a recommendation to City Council at the next meeting. The commission did not establish a moratorium and generally favored case-by-case review rather than an outright ban.
The discussion noted practical questions—power supply, NDAs sometimes requested by data-center developers, and enforceability of confidentiality agreements—but raised no formal legal actions at this meeting.
