Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Planning Process topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Commissioners press staff on what conditions could be required for data centers
Summary
During the LA 26-04 hearing commissioners asked what mitigations the Planning Commission can impose under a conditional-use review for data centers, focusing on infrastructure, water and traffic impacts; staff listed review criteria that would guide conditions.
Commissioners used the staff presentation on LA 26-04 to probe what kinds of community benefits or mitigation the commission may require if a data center applies in the SWIR. "What is the breadth of like things we can request for that?" a commissioner asked, naming potential offsets if a use brings little onsite employment but sizeable infrastructure demands.
Senior Planner Dan Handel said the conditional-use review criteria cover site suitability (size, shape, topography), public infrastructure (water, sewer, stormwater, transportation), impacts to surrounding properties (noise, light, hours, air quality, aesthetics, traffic) and applicable comprehensive-plan goals and policies — all areas where the commission can recommend conditions of approval. "We look at the public infrastructure around it and how it's served," Handel said.
Commissioners emphasized the need to balance flexibility for emerging technologies with enforceable standards. Staff noted the city has a consultant under contract to help modernize use tables and will host workshops later in the year; substantive code changes would follow that process.
