Findlay committee backs tighter rules for proposed data centers, including groundwater ban

The Planning & Zoning Committee recommended sending revised data center zoning regulations to City Council after debating separation distances, water use and noise limits.

Planner said the draft makes separation uniform: "1000 feet from any residential zoning district, 1000 feet from schools, public parks, hospitals." The draft also includes a flat prohibition: "Groundwater withdrawal for cooling purposes is prohibited," the Planner told the committee. Staff said the package would require developers to submit technical studies — including electrical demand and grid-impact analyses, water-usage and cooling-technology reports, a preconstruction acoustic study, stormwater and sanitary sewer impact reports, and emergency-response and traffic-management plans — and allows the city to hire an independent reviewer at the developer's expense.

Committee members stressed enforcement powers tied to the conditional-use process. One staff member said the city can revoke a permit to operate for noncompliance: "We can revoke their permit to operate and then because that would then allow us to to shut them down, in essence." The committee voted unanimously to recommend the revised language, with an amendment setting the acreage threshold under which the rules apply to a smaller footprint (the committee coalesced around a 5-acre threshold). The recommendation will go to City Council for formal consideration.