P&Z Commission sends final data center recommendations on to city council
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Less than a week after meeting for nearly two hours to discuss recommendations for the city council on data center regulations, the Marshalltown Planning and Zoning Commission reconvened on Wednesday night to resolve a few lingering issues, including the proposed data center overlay zoning district and whether or not to recommend extending the ongoing moratorium beyond its current expiration date.
First up, Assistant Director of Housing and Community Development/Zoning Administrator Clayton Ender asked the commission about some of the changes suggested during last week's meeting, including specifying that permits would be granted by administrative right within the overlay district and by special use permit outside of it.
After a public hearing with no comments, the commission voted unanimously to send the recommendations onto city council by a 5-0 tally (Patrick Streit abstained and Steve Valbracht was absent) before moving on to the recommendation about whether or not to establish an overlay district, which essentially makes permitting easier within specified areas.
The proposed boundaries of the district have been revised to cover an area from the field just north of the water tower on 18th Avenue south to Iowa Avenue and also the undeveloped industrial parcels north of Marion Street in the Edgewood Industrial Park. The overlay district establishment is also contingent on the city council adopting the previous zoning ordinance regulating data centers.
Ender read a written comment from the owners of Diamond Roots LLC, who farm land west of 18th Avenue and north of Merle Hibbs Boulevard. They said they did not receive a public notice in time to fully review the proposal and provide comment along with concerns about how a data center would affect their farming operation. The owners called for further studies, postponing the hearing and advocating against the overlay district.
Amber Lawthers felt the data center overlay, in its current form, should be deleted from the map, citing the general unpopularity of data centers in Marshalltown and instead arguing that more community input should be allowed throughout the process.
"It doesn't disallow development either, so I think it's the most fair approach to take for both sides of the argument because data center construction, I don't think it's a small thing. It's gonna be a really big deal, and I think a development like that that will impact so many generations of people who live in Marshalltown shouldn't just be made by a handful of people. I think it should be something that all of us in the public have an opinion on and can contribute to," she said.
Roberto Gonzalez also worried that an overlay district would come with "a lot of downfalls" and strip the local government of its ability to regulate proposed data centers. A motion to send a recommendation in favor of an overlay district to the city council then passed by the same 5-0 tally.
The final agenda item was a recommendation on extending the moratorium, and Ender said staff was not recommending doing so as the proposed ordinance is now proceeding to the city council as originally scheduled. Lawthers spoke in favor of extending the moratorium as she felt that there are still too many unknowns about data centers, noting that she is writing her graduation paper on AI data centers and has cited sources only published within the last month.
Ultimately, a motion to extend the moratorium failed by a unanimous 0-5 vote, with all of the commissioners voting no. The city council will now consider a first reading of the proposed changes during the upcoming Monday night meeting, and the ordinance is subject to three readings.
Contact Robert Maharry at (641) 753-6611 ext. 255 or rmaharry@timesrepublican.com.