Social Circle aims to regulate data centers

Data centers go under scrutiny with new code

The Social Circle City Council got its first formal look Monday at a massive set of amendments proposed for the city’s development code to more tightly regulate data centers —massive facilities for the storage, processing and distribution of large amounts of digital data that can routinely encompass one million square feet or more.

Along with other parts of the state, Social Circle has recently found itself a hotbed of interest as a potential location for data centers, to the point that the city established a moratorium on applications for the facilities.

Initially established in September and set to end on Dec. 15, the council last month extended the moratorium for another 90 days.

In the meantime, the city’s planning staff, and its planning commission – a panel of city council appointees that serves the council in an advisory capacity (the council is not bound by any planning commission recommendations) – have developed a set of proposed regulations for data centers, which currently receive only scant mention in the city’s development code.

The proposed new regulations, spanning two tightly spaced pages, include recommendations from both the planning staff and the planning commission.

Among the more notable proposed regulations for data centers are requirements that they be situated on no less than 50 acres, be located no closer than 1,000 feet to the nearest existing residence, and have perimeter fencing no less than eight feet tall, with any public-facing fencing required to be built of decorative or architectural materials.

The proposed regulations also place strict limits on lighting and noise at data center sites, require emergency response plans to be developed and coordinated with local emergency responders, and further require periodic emergency drills to be conducted in coordination with those local emergency responders.

On an even more technical level, the proposed regulations require that, before any building permits are issued, data center developers must show proof that adequate utility services are available – the facilities can be prodigious consumers of electrical power, and of water for cooling their massive banks of digital equipment – before any building permits are issued.   

Also reviewed by the council on Monday were proposed changes to the development code regarding special-use permits which will, if adopted, also have implications for data center development.

Currently, data centers are allowed outright in areas designated for heavy industrial use, and can be placed in areas zoned for light industrial use if a special-use permit is obtained. Under proposed changes reviewed by the council Monday, special-use permits would also be required for data centers locating in heavy industrial areas.

In addition, the proposed changes to the special-use permit provisions of the city’s development code would mandate, under a provision proposed by the planning commission, that such permits will expire after three years if no work has been done on the site, or if just one year elapses between observed activity on the site.

The council had little comment on the proposed data center and special-use permit regulations, with the exception of Councilman Steve Shelton, who wondered why changes proposed by the planning commission, such as the time limits for expiration of special-use permits, parking limitations for data centers, and encouraging the use of water reclamation and reuse at data centers, were differentiated by the planning staff from the planning staff’s own recommendations.

As a result, the proposed data center and special-use permit changes from the planning commission will be integrated with the planning staff’s recommendations when the council again sees the proposals at its Jan. 20 meeting, when a vote could be held on the proposed changes. That meeting is set for 6:30 p.m. in the Community Room at 138 East Hightower Trail.

Warehouse proposal reviewed

In other zoning issues reviewed Monday and set for possible votes at their Jan. 20 meeting, the council was briefed by Ashley Davis, the city’s community development director, on a rezoning and special-use permit request for construction of a 494,00-square-foot “spec” warehouse – a facility built on speculation that an end user will be found at some point – on 65 acres along Fairplay Road across from Malcom Road. Plans call for the facility to include 146 spaces for truck trailer parking and 137 other parking spaces.

Scannell Properties, a nationwide property developer, is seeking to have the acreage rezoned from its current agricultural classification, which features residential usage, to a light industrial classification. The company is also seeking a special-use permit for the tract. 

The city’s planning staff is recommending that the rezoning be approved, with a number of conditions, including a requirement that an adjacent tract featuring an occupied home that would be landlocked if the project were to move forward, be provided with road access by the developer. That concern was echoed in the planning commission’s recent review of the proposal.

While the proposal is coming to the council with a planning staff recommendation that the rezoning be approved, the staff is also recommending that the special-use permit be denied. The planning commission’s recommendation is that both the rezoning and the special-use permit be denied.