(Disclosure: Rose Law Group represents a variety of data center developers and end users.)
By Roland Murphy | AZBEX
A City of Phoenix draft ordinance to curtail data center zoning has raised concerns in the City’s own Village Planning Committees.
A recent post on Rose Law Group Reporter explained City planning staff was directed to start drafting an ordinance on data center uses in December 2024, which included instructions for a final City Council vote before Council recesses this summer. The short timeframe came as a shock to the development community and the City’s Village Planning Committees.
The draft ordinance was produced in late April and is scheduled for a Council vote June 18. RLGR said, “…this is possibly the fastest the City of Phoenix has scheduled a land use ordinance of this caliber for passage. Additionally, there was an unusual structure that scheduled the stakeholder engagement meetings for after the data center ordinance draft had already been produced and Village Planning Committees began voting. No redrafts incorporating stakeholder and Village Planning Committee input have yet been produced.”
The usual process for drafting a major land use change ordinance includes presentations to the Village Planning Committees and multiple public and stakeholder engagement sessions. It often takes more than a year of back and forth before a final draft is ready for a City Council vote.
