Plan commission recommends standards for data centers
The DeKalb County Plan Commission recommended a proposed data center standards amendment to the county commissioners. The proposed rules would regulate siting, noise, environmental impacts, water and sewer use, electrical infrastructure, cooling systems, and campus size; county commissioners are expected to consider the amendment on first reading Monday.
The DeKalb County Plan Commission in Auburn, Indiana, voted to recommend an amendment to the county’s unified development ordinance establishing standards for data centers. The proposal creates three facility tiers, limits campuses to 640 contiguous acres, and sets requirements for setbacks, screening, noise, generators, emissions, lighting, traffic, emergency response and cumulative reviews of phased development.
The amendment also addresses water supply, cooling technology, conservation, water quality, electrical and grid impacts, and infrastructure upgrades. Commissioners added provisions requiring connections to municipal water and sewer systems and prohibiting evaporative cooling. The proposal was developed during a six-month county moratorium on data center development and will now go to the DeKalb County Commissioners, who may approve it, revise it or send significant changes back to the plan commission.