City leaders in Madison, Wisconsin are proposing a one-year moratorium on zoning permits for new data centers as lawmakers struggle to understand their impact on their communities.
As Liam Beran reports in Isthmus, Madison Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway said the moratorium is necessary until the city establishes a definition of data centers in their zoning code. “Rhodes-Conway is not yet sure what changes will be made in the revised zoning code, though she says land use and sustainability impacts are chief concerns.”
According to the mayor, “Of course, I share the concerns that many folks in our community have about energy use and water use in particular, but also sustainability more broadly, which is why I feel like we need to just take a pause and figure out the issues and see how our regulations can address them.”…