Proposal to Establish a Temporary Moratorium on New Data Centers in Madison

You're probably aware from news coverage that data center proposals have been generating a lot of interest nationally and right here in Wisconsin. The recent technology sector boom and growing, widespread use of artificial intelligence tools has data center companies scoping out areas with sufficient land, workforce skills, water, and energy generation potential to support new data centers.

The Case for a Temporary Moratorium in Madison

In today’s environment of growing development pressure for data centers, the City of Madison’s zoning code doesn’t have an up-to-date way for policymakers to consider the appropriateness of their size or location. Under the current code, Madison would consider a data center proposal under the “telecommunications center” because we lack a definition of “data center” in the code.

Data center proposals raise valid questions about how energy and water utilities keep up with new demand for resources. The Wisconsin Policy Forum just a few days ago released a very timely and interesting (and publicly available!) research brief on this topic, which I highly encourage interested readers to check out. I was surprised to learn that both power and water demands have plateaued and even slightly declined in Wisconsin in recent years in part due to improving efficiency in water and energy use by modern homes, appliances, and manufacturing processes.

I think it’s important for us to acknowledge that there are already a handful of data centers operating within the City of Madison, apparently without issue. In addition, data centers’ construction and operation is a helpful source of jobs and of local property value investment which boosts local government revenues and offsets costs to other property taxpayers. 

What’s new today is the size, scale, and number of data centers we’re seeing in recent proposals in response to changing economic conditions. I think we need to take that trend seriously to make sure we will still follow the City’s long-term land use plans for housing and complete neighborhoods.

The Legislation

Legistar item 91135 (I’m a cosponsor) proposes a one-year moratorium on data centers and telecommunications centers with a floor area greater than 10,000 sq.ft. as a principal and primary use.

Per the City Zoning staff memo about the legislation, the moratorium give City of Madison agencies time to “research best practices and safeguards, including creating a permanent definition of data centers and/or creating or updating other use types if needed; identifying the specific planning and development considerations relevant to our community 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.”

What the memo says about how the moratorium would be administered: “All new uses are required to receive a zoning certificate (zoning approval) before they can occupy land, a tenant space, or an entire building. The effect of this moratorium is that no zoning certificates can be granted for new principal use data centers or telecommunications centers over 10,000 sq.ft. in floor area.”

The memo’s comment on the duration: “This moratorium shall be in effect for 12 months following the effective date of the temporary moratorium ordinance or until an amendment to Chapter 28 related to data centers and/or telecommunications centers is adopted and takes effect, whichever is earlier. The moratorium will apply to new applications for data center or telecommunications center principal uses received after the effective date of the ordinance amendment.”

A 12-month moratorium will also allow the City of Madison to gain insights from the newly created Dane County Advisory Committee on Data Centers for regional coordination.

Public Input Opportunities

Legistar 91135, the moratorium legislation, will have a public hearing at two City meetings this week. Residents who want to weigh in on this proposal have a few options.

• The Plan Commission will take this up in its January 12th meeting. It’s number 3 on the Plan Commission’s agenda. Residents may register their support or opposition, and indicate whether they’d like to speak to members before the vote, using this meeting registration link. Alternatively, they may send emails to pccomments@cityofmadison.com.
• The Common Council will take this up in its January 13rd meeting. It’s number 17 on the Council’s agenda. Residents may rergister their support or opposition, and indicate whether they’d like to speak to Council members before the vote, using this meeting registration link. Alternatively, they may send emails to allalders@cityofmadison.com.

Watch future blog posts for more information about and opportunities to weigh in on the City’s efforts to explore and define standards for responsible data center placement, size, and development.