St. Cloud City Council to Set Public Hearing on Data Center Zoning Rules

(KNSI) — The St. Cloud City Council is scheduled Monday to set a November 16th public hearing on proposed data center rules, before any developer has brought a specific project to the city.

Community Development Director Matt Glaesman says in a memo to the council and Planning Commission that adopting standards ahead of a site-specific proposal is the best practice. The city’s code currently has no data center category. It allows a broad “communication facility” use by right in the I3 planned industrial district, with no design standards.

The proposal has two parts. A comprehensive plan amendment would adopt a policy calling data centers a valuable part of the city’s economy and tax base, while saying the city must limit effects on residential areas and address noise, public resources, and the environment.

A land development code amendment would create two categories. Enterprise data centers, with 2,000 servers or fewer, 10,000 square feet or less of building area and 50 megawatts or less of peak electrical use, would be allowed by right in the C3 Central Business and C5 Highway Commercial districts. Larger hyperscale facilities would need a conditional use permit in the I3 district, and their buildings and equipment would have to stay a quarter mile from residential zoning.

All data centers would have to submit studies on noise, environmental impacts, community impact, backup power, sustainability and decommissioning. Projects of 450,000 square feet or more also require a state environmental review in St. Cloud. The memo says findings from that process could be grounds to deny a conditional use permit.

The Planning Commission recommended approval of both items on a 4-2 vote on October 13th. In a September 8th letter to the city, Pipefitters Local 539 voiced support for responsible data center development and asked for clear, objective standards and no arbitrary geographic restrictions.

The measures to set the hearing are part of the consent agenda, which means they can pass along with the rest of the agenda or be pulled for separate discussion.

The meeting gets underway tonight at City Hall at 6:00.

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