Overview
- City council members voted Monday to move a compromise ordinance to the full council that would confine new small-scale data centers to existing downtown office buildings.
- The draft rules set a 150,000 square foot cap, ban data centers as a building’s primary use, bar them from the first two floors, require computing equipment to sit 20 feet from exterior walls and force disclosure of energy and water use.
- The council remains sharply split between members seeking a full ban and those who support limited allowance for reuse of vacant buildings while Mayor Jacob Frey backs the ordinance’s regulatory framework but opposes an overlay that would require extra approvals.
- The city’s six-month moratorium on new data center construction expires on Nov. 21 and failure to adopt local rules would allow projects to proceed with minimal local oversight.
- City staff say downtown already has eight data centers, leaders reported Xcel Energy interest in up to eight more projects, and because state law bars local caps on energy or water use the city is relying on location, building limits and disclosure to manage impacts.