Gilbert leaders want strict rules on data centers, making it as hard as possible for the massive server farms to set up shop in town.
Councilmembers were expected to take up those new rules in September. However, a town spokesperson said the new rules won't be addressed until sometime in October or November.
The move comes amid pushback from residents across the Valley and the country about data center development raising concerns about pollution, water and energy use.
Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes called for a halt to new data center development in late August, citing Colorado River water cuts, and a new state law in June that put a three-year moratorium on tax breaks for data center development.
Gilbert councilmembers at an Aug. 11 meeting
pressed town staff to come up with rules that would severely restrict data center water use and require council approval for all data center developments.
Town staff initially proposed blocking data centers from using Gilbert's drinking water while leaving the door open for use of its treated wastewater.
However, several councilmembers pushed staff to require non-water-based cooling systems while praising the suggestion of requiring closed-loop cooling systems that cut down on water loss.
"I want to see the tightest possible restrictions. I want to make it so that it's brutal, because the people in this town don't deserve to pay for that," Councilmember Jim Torgeson said at the meeting.
What would Gilbert's new data center rules do?
Gilbert's town code currently has no established guidelines on data centers other than restricting where they can be built.
These new rules would add height restrictions, require annual sound testing, and put minimum distance requirements between the actual data center buildings and the property lines.
The goal is to balance technological innovation with community protection, town planner Sal DiSanto said at the meeting.
The height would be limited to 55 feet, and any street-facing facade to have architectural detailing and windows to prevent the buildings from looking like a big industrial warehouse, DiSanto said.
The new rules would only allow data center construction in areas with light industrial or general industrial zoning.
Those areas are generally in the northwest corner of the city, near the intersection of South Lindsay Road and East Germann Road and just west of the intersection of South Power Road and East Warner Road, according to city zoning maps.
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Reporter Harrison Mantas, who covers Mesa, Gilbert, Queen Creek and San Tan Valley, can be reached at hmantas@azcentral.com. Follow him on X @HarrisonMantas or Instagram @harrisonmantas.
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Here's what happened to Gilbert's data center water rules
