Arizona: Chandler adopts data center zoning amendment

Chandler City Council has given the green light to adopt a zoning code amendment for the location and operation of data centers in the city. This unanimous vote follows the tabling of an ordinance by Cameron Carter, an attorney with Rose Law Group and representative of Aligned Data Centers, who argued that the ordinance drafted was ambiguous in its wording. Further to this, Carter outlined that its requirements could impair a property owner's rights to develop on their property. 

The ordinance stated that data centers are not permitted to operate in Chandler unless explicitly approved as part of a planned area development zoning district and that facilities ancillary to another primary use at the property would be permitted under special circumstances. It also outlined that the operator or property owner of a planned data center would have to notify residents within a half-mile radius of the parcel the intention to build a data center and schedule and attend two neighborhood meetings with residents to discuss proposed "sound-mitigation aspects of the project design." Finally, it stated that potential data centers must be designed and built to incorporate noise mitigation methods sufficient to prevent the sound levels "emanating from the site."

Now, Chandler Council has approved the adoption of a zoning code amendment for the location and operation of data centers, specifically relating to sign-posting requirements and identifying where the required sound study noise-measuring equipment needs to be located.

No discussion reportedly took place before the vote.