Alders push data center moratorium
Nearly all Evanston alderpersons and Mayor Daniel Biss support placing a moratorium on data center approvals, potentially for one year. The proposed pause follows opposition to a small data center planned at 1265 Hartrey Ave. and would allow the city to conduct infrastructure and power-grid audits before approving future projects.
Eight of Evanston’s nine alderpersons, along with Mayor Daniel Biss, have indicated support for a moratorium on data center approvals. Ald. Krissie Harris proposed a one-year pause after a roughly 20,000-square-foot computer processing center was proposed at 1265 Hartrey Ave. in her ward; four alderpersons signed onto the referral and three others said they would support a pause of some length.
Harris’s proposal calls for comprehensive infrastructure and grid audits before any data center project is approved. City Manager Luke Stowe said Evanston’s current zoning code does not allow data centers, creating what he called a de facto moratorium, while officials consider whether to adopt an official one. The Hartrey Avenue proposal, submitted by property manager Lark Management, has drawn immediate neighborhood backlash despite being smaller than large-scale facilities prompting opposition elsewhere.