Wausau City Hall. MWC photo by Mike Leischner
WAUSAU, WI (WSAU) — The Wausau City Council has approved an ordinance creating regulations for data centers in the city’s zoning code, though Alders hinted that more discussion on the issue could be coming.
Assistant City Planner Carrie Edmondson, one of the architects of the measure, said she leaned heavily on her peers through the state’s Local Government Climate Coalition to create the language. “Within that [group,] we have had a data center work group that’s been meeting for the last seven months. We are in very close conversation about what’s happening across the state, how different communities are handling things, what’s working well, and what isn’t. None of us is an expert on this, and it’s a very rapidly changing technology.
“It definitely has not been developed in a vacuum. The City Attorney’s office helped us, too,” added Edmondson.
RELATED: Wausau Plan Commission Approves Data Center Ordinance
The ordinance limits data centers to areas zoned for medium or heavy industrial use. It also requires the developer to secure a conditional use permit (CUP), allowing city leaders to dissect everything from how much water and power the facility would use to how much noise and light it would generate. Alders also amended the ordinance to require at least 200 feet between any potential data center and a residential area.
Though some Alders suggested they’d like to see more amendments to the language. Andrew Wiskowski said there were several amendments that he would like to see, but “tonight is not the night to get into this, because that’s a bigger conversation.”
Bruce Trueblood suggested they spend the next few months observing what’s happening in other areas before tweaking the language. Kristin Slonski said she doesn’t want to see perfect be the enemy of good. “I do support this, and look forward to improvements and enhancements at a later date.”
Edmondson said the ordinance is designed to focus on environmental and quality of life impacts and doesn’t specifically mention what kind of data center would require a CUP, and that’s on purpose. “So as things change, we are still looking at impacts like energy impact or water impact. We also aren’t referencing anything that’s going to become outdated quickly.”
The move comes as many communities have hit pause on data center development, including Dane, Door, and Manitowoc Counties. Others have banned the developments outright, citing environmental and economic concerns.
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