Board rejects initial density restoration but adopts compromise on data center rules

The Board of Aldermen debated and then failed to sustain amendment 1 to board bill 49, an effort to restore planning-commission language limiting data center use in H, I and L districts to 30% of a building within 300 feet of another data center. The sponsor, the alderwoman from the 1st, framed the measure as the result of "dozens of hours of public hearings" and moved amendment 1 before colleagues took up competing proposals.

Opponents argued the amendment did not adequately address downtown activation and neighborhood impacts. The alderman from the 9th warned that "what a data center really is is it's vacancy of people," arguing that downtown ground-floor businesses suffer when upper floors are filled with non-occupancy data facilities. After the roll call the clerk declared: "By your vote, you failed to sustain the motion on amendment number 1." (motion failed).

The sponsor then offered amendment 2 as a negotiated compromise. Under the adopted compromise, the bill limits data center footprint in certain cases and ties larger data-center allocations to stronger ground-floor activation: if data center use increases toward a 50% threshold, proponents said buildings would have to activate up to 75% of the ground floor. Supporters described amendment 2 as a middle ground that strengthens the bill relative to the version that had permitted up to 100% data center use. The clerk recorded that the motion on amendment 2 was sustained and the amendment adopted.

The sponsor said the board’s changes will return to the planning commission for technical review; she noted the commission is scheduled to take up the amendments on September 11. The sponsor also warned the board has the option to override any planning commission rejection with the necessary votes.

What happens next: board bill 49 (as amended) was perfected on the floor and will go back to the planning commission for final review before third reading and final passage.