Tonight the City of Sheboygan is hosting the first in its series of speakers addressing the issue of Data Centers.
Sheboygan’s Common Council recently approved a 12-month moratorium, extendible to 18 months, pausing zoning approvals and building permits for large data centers. That pause, according to City Administrator Casey Bradley, was put in place in order to have an open discussion on issues that must be addressed and incorporated into the City’s zoning laws.
“What can we actually address in zoning? To give us the time and the opportunity, the moratorium affords us a year…you know, we’ve got about a year to get through that process. Creating this educational series gives an opportunity for the community to hear the same information that Council is hearing, and then pose questions to each of the speakers. And then, ultimately the plan would be, then, hold another Committee of the Whole where we bring in Wisconsin-specific zoning attorneys that can answer questions that come out of this or concerns that come out of this process, and help start building that framework by which we’ll build our zoning code around.”
Bradley noted that putting restrictions in the Code of Ordinances is needed, because the City can’t outright ban data centers. “So you can’t outright prohibit a legal business in the State of Wisconsin, so, I know this has been challenged in court and, essentially, we’re required to allow, if it’s a legal business in the State of Wisconsin we have to allow it, but we can regulate what areas it would be in. What we’re typically seeing around the country in these types of projects, are in high-industrial-zoned areas. So, what are the setbacks? What are the environmental controls that are put in place around these types of projects?”
Tonight’s speaker is Becky Valcq, President of Alliant Energy’s Wisconsin electric company and Vice President of Energy Delivery.
As for online chatter that there could be some who want to disrupt or even prevent the discussion in the first place, Bradley said that the City will make sure the public gets to hear from the experts. “You know, if folks want to show up and be disruptive, we’re telling the speakers that if, at any point, they feel unsafe or that the conversation is no longer productive, you know, if they want to leave they’re more than welcome to because, at the end of the day, we’re not paying anyone for this. We will have Sheboygan Police Department available; they will be present and we will also have a number of staff on hand just to make sure everyone is safe, from the speakers to the public.”
Tonight’s event runs from 6-8 PM at Uptown Social, and the public can participate either in person or virtually by scanning the QR code you’ll find posted in the image above.
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