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Ames council orders study, monitoring and nine-month pause on data-center applications
Summary
After lengthy public input and staff recommendations, Ames City Council directed staff to research a package of code changes and studies for data centers, formed an environmental study committee, added monitoring/accountability work, and imposed a temporary pause on new applications through May 1, 2027.
Assistant City Manager Brian Phillips returned to the council with a calendarized list of about a dozen items staff could study to regulate data centers. He told council those 12 items, if pursued, could largely be addressed within a roughly six-month staff timeline, with further planning and ordinance processes to follow.
Councilmembers amended and expanded the work program during discussion. Council approved motions to direct staff to pursue the 12 items as presented; to request memos on water-quality issues for closed-loop cooling and discharge; to research renewable-energy requirements or credit purchases; and to form a study committee to examine environmental impacts not covered by the 12 items, including heat generation, localized temperature increases, wildlife and habitat impacts, and human-health noise concerns.
Members also directed staff to study monitoring and accountability tools and to work with the city assessor on the property-tax implications and other potential public benefits of data centers. "We gave the council an opportunity to digest that report and are now back tonight to take direction as to how you would like to proceed," Phillips said. Councilmember discussion emphasized public engagement: one member said a six-month timeline did not allow adequate time for community feedback.
After extended debate over timeline and applicant impacts, Councilmember Gloria (Council member) moved a date-specific temporary pause that would end May 1, 2027. The motion passed 4–2. Council instructed staff to return with reports, public engagement opportunities and any necessary ordinance text for planning and zoning review.
