NORTHBOROUGH – The Northborough Planning Board will bring an article to Town Meeting in April that requires a special permit for data centers to be constructed in the Industrial District. Board members said the measure is a “stopgap” designed to give the town more time to brainstorm solutions, better understand data centers, and develop bylaws.
Even with a special permit from the Planning Board, the proposed bylaw only allows data centers with a maximum projected electrical demand of 5 megawatts at full build-out. Iron Mountain, the data center currently in Northborough, is a 3.6-megawatt facility, according to the Planning Board.
First reported by the Community Advocate, the Planning Board in February looked to protect the town against data centers by establishing a definition, adding criteria, and allowing the board to consider factors such as traffic, air quality, and noise during the approval process…