Columbia Planning and Zoning Commission to discuss data center standards

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

The Columbia Planning and Zoning Commission will hold a work session on Thursday regarding data center-specific use standards and conditional use permit criteria.

The work session will start at 5:30 p.m., followed by the commission's regular session at 7 p.m. inside City Hall.

Planning and Zoning is continuing conversations on drafting regulations and standards for governing data centers in Columbia.

According to city documents for Thursday's meeting, city staff will discuss:

• Siting structures and parking requirements
• Large energy users in the city to compare energy usage with the hypothetical demands of data centers.
• Lessons other communities have learned from where data centers have been developed and regulations have been changed.

City staff is expected to discuss land use compatibility on June 11.

On May 18, the Columbia City Council approved an ordinance that will pause the acceptance and processing of permits for new or expanding data centers for one year so that the city can have more time to go over regulations.