The small city of Palo, outside Cedar Rapids, now has clear rules for data centers. But it’s less clear if it will need to use them.
Google has been in talks with both Palo and Linn County about developing a data center near the Duane Arnold nuclear plant, which the tech giant is helping recommission.
The land is currently in unincorporated Linn County but could be annexed into Palo city limits. In case that happens, Palo passed a data center ordinance Monday night after months of public meetings.
Some residents and neighbors pushed back over concerns like water and energy use, noise levels and light pollution. Palo resident Shelley Jacobus didn’t think the ordinance protected people enough.
“We have one shot at this — one ordinance — and it needs to be solid,” she said. “There’s not an urgency. Google’s not going anywhere. They’ve invested too much money to bringing the Duane Arnold energy plant back online.”
City council member Eric Van Kerckhove said the new ordinance puts the small community in a strong position.
“This ordinance gives Palo the ability to set the terms and ensure any development, if it moves forward, does so under rules written by Palo, for Palo,” he said.
Council members said more requirements could be added to a development agreement further down the line — if a project actually applies to Palo. Mayor Bryan Busch told IPR the city won’t initiate annexation of the site in question. He said it would consider it if Google or the county makes an annexation request.
Linn County recently initiated an 18-month data center moratorium. Data centers in Linn County would otherwise need to be in an Exclusive Use (EU) 3 zone. The moratorium pauses all EU-3 applications, which effectively bans all data centers.
But in the moratorium, the Linn County Board of Supervisors also directed staff to consider allowing data centers as accessories to nuclear plants in EU-2 zones.
Planning & Development Director Charlie Nichols introduced the idea to Linn County’s Planning and Coning Commission Monday night.
“It’s hard to say it’s not project-specific because there is only one nuclear plant in Iowa,” he said, referring to the Duane Arnold Energy Center. “But the intent would be, if Linn County is going to permit a data center project anywhere before this 18-month moratorium, does it make sense to permit something that is enabling the restart of a nuclear power plant?”
A rezoning decision will likely take months. Nichols said Aug. 17 is the earliest date that draft language would come before the Planning and Zoning Commission.
