Clinton moves to question noise, water and power use as data centers boom
The Clinton Board of Aldermen unanimously voted to amend zoning ordinances, requiring new data centers to obtain conditional use permits and restricting their locations to industrial zones. This change allows officials to question noise, water, and power usage for new facilities. Separately, the Jackson City Council recently tabled a proposed moratorium on data center construction.
The Clinton Board of Aldermen in Mississippi unanimously voted to amend the city's zoning ordinance, establishing new regulations for data center development. Under the revised rules, any new data center facility will be required to secure a conditional use permit and must be situated exclusively within industrial zones.
This regulatory change empowers city officials to scrutinize potential noise pollution, as well as the water and power demands of proposed data centers. The board's definition of a data center encompasses facilities primarily used for digital data storage, management, processing, or transmission, including those housing computer servers and specialized computing hardware.
The city's action comes as a billion-dollar data center project is already under construction in the area. The article also briefly notes that the Jackson City Council recently chose to table a proposed moratorium on data center construction in Mississippi's capital city.