A new zoning ordinance classifies data centers as industrial facilities, triggering stricter zoning and permitting requirements.
Kansas City, Missouri adopted one of the nation’s first zoning ordinances aimed specifically at data centers, reports Robyn Griggs Lawrence in Smart Cities Dive. currently home to 36 data centers, which a city report reveals use six times as much energy as the municipal government.
According to Lawrence:
The new ordinance reclassifies data centers as industrial facilities from commercial facilities, limits them to specific zoning districts and will require larger data centers to receive City Council approval and will-serve letters from Kansas City Water and Energy, the primary electric utility for the Kansas City metro area, affirming they have the capacity and intent to provide service.
The rule could serve as a model for other cities that want to regulate data centers. Multiple cities have put moratoriums on new data centers until they establish new rules, and Kansas City officials say other cities have asked them for their ordinance.
Read the full story: Kansas City, Missouri, moves to the forefront of data center zoning with new ordinance
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