Aurora City Council rejects data center moratorium

The Aurora City Council has moved to establish new development standards for data centers following resident concerns regarding noise, water usage, and electricity impacts. In a 6-5 vote, the council rejected a proposal that would have implemented a moratorium on new data center applications. Instead, the council approved a resolution directing the city manager to return within 35 days with recommended code changes.

The proposed regulations aim to address specific environmental and community impacts, including the use of evaporative cooling, residential setbacks, and buffers for facilities located near neighborhoods. These new rules are intended to provide clearer definitions for data centers, which previously often utilized warehouse zoning to bypass specific oversight.

While the new standards will apply to future developments, they are not expected to affect the five data center projects currently in the development process. The city's efforts follow growing public backlash and noise complaints associated with larger facilities, such as those operated by CyrusOne.