Salem Data Center Zoning: Dispute Over AI Facilities
Salem is preparing to consider a resolution that would interpret the city's zoning code as excluding AI and hyperscale data centers. Developer Aaron Stickney argues the measure would improperly create new restrictions and cannot be applied to the pending Oakline at Mill Creek project, while the city says it would merely clarify existing law.
The Salem City Council is scheduled to hold a public hearing Nov. 9, 2026, on Resolution 2026-46, which would interpret the city's existing data-center classification as excluding facilities primarily devoted to AI and hyperscale computing. City Attorney Dan Atchison says the resolution is an interpretation of current regulations and does not require the notice and ordinance procedures associated with a zoning amendment. Developer Aaron Stickney argues that its practical effect would be a citywide prohibition on previously allowed uses, requiring additional legal procedures.
The dispute could affect the proposed Oakline at Mill Creek campus in southeast Salem. Alderstone LLC, a Verrus subsidiary, submitted an application July 31 for two buildings totaling about 600,000 square feet, but the application remained incomplete and unapproved during the article's reporting. Stickney contends that Oregon's land-use protections prevent the city from applying new restrictions to the application, while Salem could argue that a valid interpretation reflects standards already in effect when the project was filed.
The debate also involves Salem's broader consideration of a data-center moratorium and prospective code amendments, including possible electricity-demand thresholds. The council's action may determine how future AI and hyperscale facilities are classified and whether the city's proposed interpretation is a clarification of existing law or an impermissible regulatory change.