By Jeremy Duda | Axios
Phoenix is on the verge of enacting zoning regulations to limit where data centers can be located.
Why it matters: Data centers use large amounts of energy and space and can bring negative effects like noise pollution to surrounding communities, per an analysis by city staff.
State of play: The city wants to direct data centers away from mixed-use, walkable and transit-oriented communities.
- They create few jobs, take up land that could be used for employment and housing, and make “inactive” stretches of street, staff wrote.
Zoom in: Under the proposal, data centers would be restricted to areas zoned for industrial and some commercial use.
- They would have to get a permit before locating in those areas.
- Data centers would be required to mitigate noise if they’re within 300 feet of residential areas, be at least a half-mile from high-capacity transit, and use decorative features for architecture and landscaping to “avoid large, monotonous, undifferentiated surfaces” and “large, monolithic buildings,” according to a staff report.
“The way the ordinance is currently written will unfortunately regulate new data centers out of existence in the City of Phoenix, which is harmful to our hard fought reputation of being a tech-friendly and progressive city. The ordinance needs some crucial tweaks – especially relating to the ‘will serve’ power timing,” says Jordan Rose, Rose Law Group founder and president, who represents multiple data center developers and end users.
