Menomonie City Council Discusses Data Center Ordinance

The Menomonie City Council discussed its newly proposed data center zoning ordinance at its meeting last week.

City officials have been reviewing the potential update for months in response to community pushback over a data center proposal last year. Water and energy use, noise, and pollution concerns were among the issues most commonly raised by residents over the project.

The City of Menomonie did not have the ability to stop the proposed data center project prior to the zoning code update, as the land it would have been built on was zoned for warehousing at the time. Since there was no separate definition for data centers in the zoning code, the City would have been required to accommodate the data center as a legal land use.

Under the proposed ordinance separating data center and warehouse facilities, the setback requirement for a data center was moved to 800 feet and the minimum lot size was set at one acre. The facilities will also be required to use cooling equipment that reduces water usage, and the developers will be required to establish a water conservation plan for the site with an update required every three years. The City of Menomonie would also require a reclamation bond from the developer to restore the property to its current condition if the data center facility later closes.

The new ordinance will not ban data center projects entirely, but will give City officials more power to properly regulate them. According to Mayor Matthew Crowe, a second draft of the data center zoning ordinance will be discussed at the City Council meeting in September before moving to the Planning Commission in October. It could be officially adopted by the end of the year.