Hoover City Council to tighten up zoning process for data centers

The Hoover City Council is preparing to vote on significant amendments to its zoning ordinance, which would introduce greater oversight for future data center proposals. The proposed changes would reclassify data centers from a "permitted by right" use to a "conditional use" in several districts, thereby requiring review by the city's planning commission and city council before permits are issued. City officials, including Ashley Lovell and Martin (whose last name is not provided), indicated that the move is a proactive response to community concerns and recent data center developments in neighboring Birmingham and Bessemer, specifically citing "Project Marvel" in Bessemer and a planned AI factory in Birmingham's Oxmoor Valley. Councilmember Lovell highlighted the council's responsiveness to vocal residents. Currently, Hoover has no pending data center applications, but it does host an established AT&T data center. Resident Robin Schultz emphasized the need for clearer definitions of "data center" given the variety of facility types, referencing the Nebius data center on Lakeshore and others nearby. The council meeting is scheduled for Monday at 6 p.m., with immediate implementation of the zoning changes if approved.