Fairfax votes to ban high-impact data centers with no end date
The Fairfax City Council in Iowa has taken a formal step to permanently ban 'high-impact data centers' within city limits. The new ordinance, passed with a three-to-one vote, prohibits data centers meeting specific criteria related to electrical demand, cooling systems, and backup generators. This decision aims to proactively plan ahead and address potential impacts before major data center projects propose to come to the city.
The Fairfax City Council in Iowa has voted to implement an outright and indefinite ban on what it defines as 'high-impact data centers.' This initial formal step was passed by a three-to-one vote, prohibiting future data center projects that meet specific criteria such as having 10 megawatts or greater of electrical demand, using cooling systems, or possessing backup generators.
According to KCRG-TV9's Liz Schultz, city leaders emphasize this proactive measure is about planning ahead, aiming to prevent major data center projects from even attempting to establish themselves in Fairfax. The ordinance states that the city "shall not accept, process or consider any application that seeks approval of a high-impact data center."
The lone dissenting council member expressed reservations, suggesting that rushing this isn't necessary and preferred to wait for further input from planning and zoning committees. While this initial vote enacts a ban on large data centers, the ordinance does allow for future ordinances to potentially permit them at the council's discretion, provided they take economic and environmental impacts into consideration. Fairfax joins Ida County as one of the few municipalities in Iowa to outright ban future data centers.