Linn County Supervisors advance amended data center ordinance

CEDAR RAPIDS — The Linn County Board of Supervisors has advanced an amended data center ordinance that includes additional considerations for lighting, waste management and public feedback.

The board Monday unanimously approved the second reading of an ordinance outlining how and where data centers can be built in unincorporated Linn County. The third and final consideration will take place Wednesday.

The ordinance as drafted includes many of the same requirements outlined earlier this month during a public meeting in Palo, although it also includes additional considerations based upon resident feedback.

“We chose a route to have an ordinance specific to data centers because they are a special industry that do use a lot of resources,” Linn County Supervisor Kirsten Running-Marquardt said. “We have, to the best of our ability and to the best of our authority, used the power that we have as a county to put in as many protections (as we can while) still being a pro-growth county.”

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Already, two data center campuses are under construction in southwest Cedar Rapids, and Linn County Planning & Development Director Charlie Nichols said the county has fielded several inquiries from developers looking to site similar projects in rural Linn County.

The draft ordinance would provide a framework to review and potentially approve those proposals through the creation of a new zoning district with specific requirements for large-scale data center development.

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Lighting, waste management considerations added

The proposed code outlines the application process for any interested developers, including the submission of a major site plan, development timeline, site layout and an estimate of the number of jobs that would be created as a result of the project.

The applicant would also be required to solicit and submit a third-party water study “demonstrating there is sufficient reliable water supply to meet all projected water demands without undue adverse impacts on existing users, aquifers or watersheds.”

After rezoning, but before any building permits could be issued, the applicant would then be required to enter into a water use agreement with Linn County to govern ongoing coordination regarding reported water use over the facility’s lifetime.

On Monday, supervisors approved several amendments based upon citizens’ feedback at and since the Palo meeting.

These included additional requirements that applicants submit a lighting plan with details of the planned lighting setup, intensity and mitigation measures, as well as a waste management plan outlining expected waste volumes and plans for their disposal or diversion.

Applicants now also will be required to hold a public, pre-application meeting with interested community members to present the project and answer any questions ahead of submitting an application for rezoning to the county.

While noting there are areas of the ordinance she believed could be even stronger, District 3 Supervisor Brandy Z. Meisheid ultimately said the additions as presented marked a good start toward the protection of Linn County residents.

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While the ordinance outlines application requirements for large-scale data centers, she further noted the ultimate decision still will lay with the board — meaning even if an applicant meets the code requirements, supervisors could still reject the rezoning if doing so aligns with the county’s best interests.

“To me, the best thing we can do is have an ordinance in place to protect taxpayers when applications come forward,” Meisheid said. “Although I think it could be stronger in some areas, I feel we are better served by this ordinance than by not having” anything at all.

County supervisors will hold their final consideration of the ordinance at 10 a.m. Wednesday during their regular meeting at the Jean Oxley Public Services Center at 935 Second St. SW in Cedar Rapids. Public comment will be taken, and the meeting can also be streamed online.

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