The Broken Arrow City Council is slated to meet Monday evening to consider a 6-month moratorium on data center proposals.
The meeting comes after a letter of intent agreement expired between a private property owner and a developer for the purchase of 52 acres of land in east Broken Arrow for a possible data center.
City Manager Michael Spurgeon plans to recommend the city council adopt a moratorium on data centers. If the council goes along with the recommendation, it reportedly will entail a six-month period where data center proposals would not be considered.
“After careful consideration of what we have learned about data centers over the past 6 to 8 months in other area communities and more specifically the last 45 days, I believe it is appropriate for the City Council to consider this pause at a time when there are no potential projects or applications for a proposed data center project on the table, so we can learn as much as possible about the potential impacts and review our zoning ordinance,” explained Spurgeon.
It would also give the city six months to study the impact of data centers such as electrical consumption, rate impacts on customers, the demand for water, noise generation, traffic and any tax exemptions that might granted by the state. Plus, the city wants more research into the increased demands on city infrastructure.
Under the recommendation from Spurgeon, the moratorium proposal would allow the city to extend the moratorium another 6 months if needed.
Broken Arrow’s current zoning ordinance does not include or specify a data center for use. So the moratorium would also give city leaders more time to consider any appropriate zoning designation.
Spurgeon said, “We know there are data centers for many different uses and are built to very different specifications. These differences make it challenging to truly understand the impacts data centers could have on our community’s resources.”
