St. Cloud Residents Can Weigh In on Data Center Rules Before Possible Council Vote

(KNSI) – St. Cloud residents can weigh in Monday on proposed rules for data center construction, and the city council could vote on them the same night.

The St. Cloud City Council will hold a public hearing on November 16th at 6:00 p.m. at city hall on zoning changes city staff drafted ahead of any developer proposal. In a memo to the council, Community Development Director Matt Glaesman wrote that adopting standards before a site-specific proposal comes in is the best practice.

City officials say data centers are relatively new, and the city’s planning rules haven’t caught up.

Council member Tami Calhoun told KNSI News last month, after the council set the hearing, that she had concerns about energy use, noise and what happens to a building if a data center operator leaves.

Right now, St. Cloud’s code has no data center category. A data center could fall under a broad “communication facility” use that’s allowed by right in the I3 planned industrial district, with no design standards.

The proposal would split data centers into two groups. Smaller enterprise data centers, with no more than 2,000 servers, 10,000 square feet of building space and 50 megawatts of peak power use, would be allowed in the C3 Central Business and C5 Highway Commercial districts without special approval. Larger hyperscale facilities would need a conditional use permit, could only locate in the I3 district and would have to stay at least a quarter mile from residential zoning.

Every data center would have to submit studies on noise, environmental and community impacts, backup power, sustainability and how the site would be shut down. Projects of 450,000 square feet or more would also face a state environmental review, and the city could deny a permit based on what that review finds.

A companion change to the city’s comprehensive plan would call data centers a valuable part of the local economy and tax base, while requiring the city to limit effects on neighborhoods and address noise, public resources and the environment.

The Planning Commission recommended approval on a 4-2 vote on October 13th. Commissioners Charlie Hobbs and Sabrin Ali voted no, saying they preferred a moratorium to allow more time to write a stricter ordinance.

Pipefitters Local 539 has also weighed in, sending the city a letter supporting responsible data center development and asking for clear, objective standards without arbitrary geographic restrictions.

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