Gilbert officials are looking to put some of the Valley’s toughest restrictions on data centers into town code amid concerns about their potential effects on water, electricity and neighboring residents.
The proposed land development code amendment would limit primary data centers to light industrial and general industrial zoning districts, require greater setbacks from homes, restrict their water use and impose standards covering noise, lighting, landscaping, building design and fire safety.
But Gilbert Town Council members reviewing the proposal during an Aug. 11 study session pushed staff to go further, particularly on water use and ensuring council has the final say over major data center proposals.
Planner II Sal DiSanto said the town is trying to establish standards before a significant data center proposal arrives.
Under current code, data centers are permitted in business park and light industrial districts with a conditional-use permit. The proposed changes would remove them from business park zoning and require a special-use permit for primary data centers.
Accessory data centers serving another use, such as server facilities inside medical, manufacturing or financial businesses, could operate without a special-use permit if they occupied no more than 10% of the primary building.
The proposal calls for buildings, transformers, generators, cooling units, substations and other equipment to be at least 400 feet from property lines, increasing to 650 feet when adjacent to residential communities.
Data center buildings would be limited to 55 feet in height. A 200-foot landscaped setback would be required next to residential areas, while sound studies would be required to demonstrate compliance with noise standards.
The town also would prohibit potable water from being used for cooling, humidity control and similar operational needs and prohibit open-loop evaporative cooling systems.
Reclaimed water could be available, although Water Resources Manager Lauren Hixson said using it for data centers would reduce the amount Gilbert can store underground for future use.
Data centers exceeding the water allocation established for a parcel would have to obtain additional water resources.
Councilmember Monte Lyons suggested going further by examining whether the town could require non-water cooling systems.
Councilmember Jim Torgeson also sought stronger restrictions, citing the effect major data centers could have on both water and electricity supplies.
“I want to see the tightest possible restrictions,” Torgeson said. “I want to make it so that it's brutal because the people in this town don't deserve to pay for it.”
Power emerged as another concern. DiSanto said town staff plans additional discussions with Salt River Project and noted that data centers staff toured elsewhere in the Valley required their own substations.
Vice Mayor Chuck Bongiovanni focused on who would approve future data centers.
Under the proposal presented to council, a large data center already on appropriately zoned property could receive its special-use permit from the Planning Commission without Town Council approval.
“Pretty dangerous movement to me,” Bongiovanni said.
He asked whether the town could require council approval for any data center proposal.
Staff said the land development code could be written to require data center special-use permits to come before council and agreed to work with the town’s legal staff on the change.
Staff also said the town cannot simply prohibit data centers as a land use and must allow them in appropriate zoning districts.
Councilmember Bobbi Buchli similarly questioned allowing large data centers without council action and called for them to provide their own new water resources rather than drawing on Gilbert's reclaimed supply.
Mayor Scott Anderson cautioned that the ordinance also needs enough flexibility to accommodate businesses that require smaller data centers or server facilities as part of their operations.
The proposal also would require annual fire inspections, emergency-response provisions, plans for disposing of damaged or end-of-life batteries and neighborhood meetings before formal applications.
Staff expects to bring the ordinance back to council for possible action Sept. 1 or Sept. 15 after incorporating council direction and continuing discussions with stakeholders, including SRP.
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Meet Tom Tom Blodgett joined Independent Newsmedia, Inc., USA, in 2022, when the company acquired Community Impact Newspaper's Phoenix-area properties. Raised in Arizona, he has spent more than 35 years in journalism in the state.
Community: He has served as an instructional professional in the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication since 2005, and is editorial adviser to The State Press, the university's independent student media outlet. He also is director of operations for an 18U girls fastpitch softball team from Gilbert.
Education: Arizona State University with a BS in Journalism.
Random Fact: He lived in Belgium during his freshman year of high school.
Hobbies: Tweeting enthusiastically about ASU softball (season-ticket holder) and grumpily about other local sports (pessimistic fan).
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