• St. Louis aldermen unanimously approved Board Bill 49, creating dedicated zoning rules for future data-centre developments
  • The already-approved 120MW Armory project is exempt and will continue under conditions agreed through the earlier permitting process

The fact

St. Louis aldermen unanimously approved Board Bill 49 on 11 September, creating dedicated zoning rules for future data centres and sending the measure to Mayor Cara Spencer. Until now, the city's zoning code generally treated data centres as offices or warehouses rather than as a separate land use.

The new framework sets different requirements according to facility size and covers where data centres can be built, as well as issues including noise, lighting and renewable energy. It does not regulate electricity prices for other utility customers. The planned $3 billion, 120MW Armory Innovation District data centre is exempt because it was approved before the new rules. That project will continue under its existing conditions, which include closed-loop cooling, limits on noise and heat, and a requirement to source at least half of its electricity from renewable sources within five years.

The assessment

For developers, St. Louis now has a set of rules written specifically for data centres. A site that might once have qualified as an office or warehouse will have to meet requirements that take the facility's size, location and effects on nearby neighbourhoods into account.

The Armory project shows where the line is drawn. Its 120MW development keeps the approval it already received, while later projects will enter the new system. Developers should not assume that the conditions negotiated for Armory will automatically apply to another site.

For BTW readers, that makes site selection more important at the start of a project. Power and fibre may make a parcel technically attractive, but a future development will also need to fit the city's data-centre zoning rules before it can move ahead.

What to watch

Watch for the mayor's action on Board Bill 49 and the first data-centre application submitted under the new framework. That project will show how St. Louis applies the size classifications and environmental requirements in practice, and which sites remain workable once the rules are tested on a real proposal.