Temporary Data Center Moratorium

The moratorium is a planning tool that  “presses pause" on any potential proposals and will give the City of Madison time to set responsible rules for a new land use category. All new uses are required to receive zoning approval before they can occupy land, a tenant space, or an entire building. During this moratorium, no zoning approvals can be granted for new principal- use data centers or telecommunications centers over 10,000 square feet in floor area. 

Because zoning approval is required before a building permit may be issued for any new use of a building or tenant space, the moratorium will also mean that no building permits or certificates of occupancy will be issued for new principal use data centers or telecommunications centers if they are over 10,000 square feet in floor area. 

The floor area measurement includes only the space occupied by the data center or telecommunications center principal use. It does not include other tenant spaces in a building that are separate principal uses.  

Additionally, the moratorium does not apply to data centers or telecommunications centers that serve another principal or primary use allowed on the lot, such as one within and serving a research lab or office building. 

Without zoning regulations that reflect current best practices to responsibly manage this use, the construction of new data centers could impact the implementation of the City's long-range land use plans, affect property values, or possibly be detrimental to the public health, safety, and general welfare of our community.   

A moratorium allows city leaders and staff to research and establish well-informed, consistent zoning and/or other regulatory standards for data centers and telecommunications centers and provides opportunities for public participation in the process. 

City of Madison agencies, including the Office of the City Attorney and the Department of Planning, Community and Economic Development will research best practices and safeguards. This could include creating a definition of “data centers" that will be added to the zoning code, updating other land use types if needed, identifying the specific planning and development considerations for the responsible operation of data centers in the future, and proposing potential zoning or other local ordinance standards for the operation of these uses within the city. 

City staff plans on consulting with other municipalities on how they have handled the creation of data centers in their communities, and will also meet with other experts and stakeholders. City agencies will also review relevant available studies and research on how municipalities can effectively regulate data centers. The 12-month moratorium will also allow the City to gain insights from the newly-created Dane County Advisory Committee on Data Centers. 

By or before January 24, 2026, the City will amend the zoning code to create land use and zoning standards that are appropriate for future regulation of data center uses. When such an ordinance is adopted, the moratorium will end.  

During the research portion of this effort, City staff anticipates identifying information and receiving feedback relating to the benefits or impacts of data centers that do not pertain directly to land use or to standards that are allowed to be regulated in the zoning code. In those cases, it is possible that other local ordinances beyond the zoning code amendments may be recommended for consideration if they address the City's long-term objectives and are not covered by other applicable City or State of Wisconsin laws. 

For the purposes of this temporary moratorium, a data center is defined as:

"A facility whose primary and principal use is for the storage, management, processing, and transmission of digital data, which houses computer or network equipment, systems, servers, appliances and other associated components related to digital data operations. The facility may also include air handlers, power generators, water cooling and storage facilities, utility substations, and other associated utility infrastructure to support sustained operations at the data center. Data centers may also contain accessory office uses necessary to monitor and manage sustained operations at the data center."

The temporary moratorium also applies for telecommunications centers. A “telecommunications center" is currently defined in the zoning code as: 

"An office facility that is responsible for transmission, receipt, acceptance, processing, and distribution of incoming and outgoing communications."

Yes. The City of Madison does not keep a list of land use approvals going back in time, so knowledge of existing data centers can only be sourced from institutional staff knowledge or from publicly searchable data. 

An initial, high-level review of possible data centers within City limits found two data centers that would likely meet the definition of data center used for the moratorium and would not be able to be newly created under the temporary moratorium. 

The City is aware of some additional businesses that may be operating data center functions either below the 10,000-square-foot floor area threshold, in ways that do not meet the new data center definition being used during the moratorium, or as part of another principal land use. Additional research into the range of existing data centers will be conducted during the moratorium.

While the moratorium is in effect, any legally existing telecommunications centers will be considered “lawful nonconforming uses" in accordance with the City of Madison zoning code. This means they will be allowed to continue to operate under their previous approvals as long as they do not: 

• Stop operating for a period of 12 months or more, and 
• Do not undergo structural alterations that exceed 50% of the total assessed value of the building. 

As of now, there are no  land use or zoning applications for a data center or telecommunications center pending with the City. Under the temporary moratorium, the City is unable to consider or issue a zoning approval for these uses.  

Typically, zoning code changes are reviewed by the Plan Commission, which includes an opportunity for public comment once a proposed zoning code change is formally drafted and introduced as an agenda item. 

Given the wide range of potential considerations for data centers, City staff anticipates a longer approval process once a zoning code change is proposed that could include the proposal being referred to additional committees, which would provide additional opportunities for public feedback. 

The City intends to widely publicize any additional opportunities for feedback through news releases, social media updates, and alder blogs to ensure transparency throughout the moratorium.