Wausau’s data center rules return to council for promised second look
Wausau’s City Council is set to reconsider the city’s newly adopted data center rules, which include a 200-foot buffer from residential zoning and require conditional-use approval. The rules also mandate reviews of water use, wastewater, sound, energy consumption and sustainability, while Marathon County separately approved a 12-month pause on data center development in county-zoned towns.
Wausau’s first data center ordinance, effective July 30, is returning to the City Council for a scheduled review after Alder Bruce Trueblood requested that the rules be revisited. The ordinance permits data centers only in medium and heavy industrial districts with a conditional-use permit, requires a 200-foot separation from residentially zoned property, and mandates reports on water, wastewater, noise, energy, fiber and required permits.
The council may reaffirm the ordinance, amend it or send it back to the Plan Commission. City officials said no new concerns had been raised since adoption, although Trueblood has advocated for the strictest rules that remain economically viable. Separately, the Marathon County Board approved at least a 12-month pause on data center development in the 18 towns subject to county zoning while permanent regulations are studied.