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NILES — While city officials have made progress in developing legislation on data centers thanks to a moratorium put in place months prior, one councilman proposed extending the moratorium.
Ahead of Wednesday’s regular meeting, Councilman Aaron Johnstone, D-2nd Ward, said officials have been meeting regularly with a zoning consultant that city council hired, adding that they have language with which they’re comfortable.
“Looking at the timeframe, by the time we go to the (city’s) planning commission and give three readings, I don’t think we’re going to make our six-month moratorium,” Johnstone said.
Johnstone suggested extending the moratorium for six months, adding that the extension doesn’t necessarily mean they’d need the entire period.
Johnstone later explained that the moratorium hasn’t formally been extended yet, but legislation should follow at an upcoming city council meeting.
Law Director Phil Zuzolo said city officials would have their public hearing in December to roll out what the proposed zoning changes would be and collect public input.
“In the meantime, we still have the incumbent moratorium, if we need to go back to the drawing board for any reason, changes that maybe come from persons in the audience,” Zuzolo said.
Council President Doug Sollitto asked whether officials could put out a compressed version of the proposed language, but Johnstone compared it to a contract negotiation.
“To put anything out there now might be in bad faith, because of the change,” Johnstone said.
Johnstone said he could discuss topics without breaching specific details, noting challenges in defining boundaries for the facilities.
“Part of our discussions in the past, where we wanted to leave Niles open to maybe some of the smaller, more palatable ones,” Johnstone said. “We discussed examples of hospital server rooms, data centers.”
“As these all grow, in a digital age, staying flexible and being open to the smaller ones while making sure that we have strict provisions on the larger ones that it’s clear that we are not welcoming to.”
Johnstone said proposals at the state level and other variables contributed to his group being slowed down.
As for who that group consists of, Johnstone said the meetings aren’t committee meetings but Zoom calls with the city’s zoning consultant, which are scheduled as needed.
Zuzolo said the zoning legislation can go to the city’s planning commission in November and officials could schedule the hearing in December, adding that council would not have to vote on it until they collect the zoning commission and public’s suggestions.
Johnstone said he liked the proposed timeline, noting similar data center conversations with other communities have been “shadowed” in non-disclosure agreements and backdoor conversations.
“I love the fact that we’re going to put this out there and say, ‘Here’s what we have, we want your input and if you want changes, we still have time to make those changes,'” Johnstone said.
The first public hearing has been scheduled for 5 p.m. Dec. 2, prior to the regular meeting.