New Zoning Ordinance Addresses Data Center Concerns

5 days ago 6

The Phoenix Mayor and City Council approved updates to modernize the City’s Zoning Ordinance to adhd information centers arsenic a permitted usage that indispensable code wellness and information concerns erstwhile applying for a peculiar licence for construction. As Phoenix continues to flourish arsenic a hub for high-tech jobs and industry, these updates found requirements and a model to code wellness and information concerns resulting from information centers.

Since information centers were historically of akin scope and size to an bureau abstraction oregon telecommunication facility, Phoenix’s Zoning Ordinance had not explicitly provided guidelines for information centers. In caller years, information centers person rapidly evolved into larger, complex, industrial-sized facilities with the imaginable for important antagonistic impacts connected surrounding neighborhoods. Modern information centers are energy-intensive operations with specialized, delicate equipment, high-voltage infrastructure, and aggravated powerfulness demands that necessitate challenging occurrence information issues to beryllium addressed. The model helps guarantee that information centers are thoughtfully located, designed to code wellness and information concerns, and developed successful collaboration with cardinal partners, including inferior providers and archetypal responders.

“Phoenix is arrogant to invited cutting-edge industries and the infrastructure that supports them,” Mayor Kate Gallego said. “But maturation indispensable beryllium balanced and not disregard nationalist information oregon perchance antagonistic impacts upon the community. Data centers themselves person grown tenfold implicit their much than 30-year improvement to conscionable marketplace demands, and truthful excessively indispensable regulations that support the public’s wellness and safety.”

The updated ordinance introduces caller definitions and a Special Permit process that addresses imaginable wellness and information impacts. These impacts include, but are not constricted to, powerfulness grid reliability, occurrence risk, exigency effect access, and sound impacts.

“Phoenix is not banning information centers; we’re readying for them responsibly,” said Planning and Development Director Josh Bednarek. “The caller process requires earlier discussions with City unit for each caller installation to measure its determination and guarantee wellness and information concerns are met to support residents and the surrounding community.”

This is 1 of respective measures the City has taken to program for safe, sustainable growth, including the large h2o idiosyncratic ordinance passed successful 2024, the Phoenix Food Action Plan, the Shade Phoenix Plan, and the Phoenix Heat Response Plan.

“Phoenix volition ever promote improvement that is astute and strategic,” said Gallego. “These captious zoning updates springiness the City Council and maine the tools to assistance our metropolis proceed to thrive successful a high-tech world, portion besides protecting the wellness and information of Phoenix residents.”

The station New Zoning Ordinance Addresses Data Center Concerns appeared archetypal connected Greater Phoenix In Business Magazine.

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