City staff outlines zoning plan to regulate AI and data centers, urges measurable safety standards

McMinnville city staff presented a draft approach to zoning for AI and large data centers on Tuesday, proposing a new zone district, conditional-use standards and a public “project hub” of peer-reviewed studies to guide rulemaking. Staff said the proposal aims to protect residents while allowing non-impactful operations to proceed.

The project lead told attendees the city will evaluate applications against the written zoning code and supporting site plans, and use a chair-signed resolution to approve or deny permits that do not meet code. "Our zoning code is the absolute most effective way that we have," the staff member said, adding that the city will require measurable standards that are "legal, logical, [and] enforceable." The staff member asked the public to submit peer-reviewed studies and EPA materials for the hub so rules rest on recognized science.

Why this matters: the city faces competing pressures — residents raising health, noise and water concerns and developers pointing to job and tax benefits — but staff stressed that ambiguous language risks losing in court. A recent Tennessee case was cited to warn that a single ambiguous word can void enforcement, so staff urged carefully drafted, defensible standards.

Key details: staff said the working minimum lot size under consideration is about 10 acres and that planners are assessing how many existing I1/I2 industrial lots would be viable; the goal is for roughly 15% of inventory to meet the new district so the rule is not blatantly exclusionary. Staff also said the city will adopt updated building and fire code references on a three-year ICC cycle (with 2027 framed as a target year to move to newer code editions) and will incorporate NFPA standards where appropriate.

Staff described measurable tools the city can impose: setback and bulk rules, floor-area caps, secondary containment for fuels, periodic site inspections and annual fire-department tours and training. "We can require secondary containment areas. We can do annual inspections, the fire department does annual inspections of pretty much all businesses and industrial uses," the staff member said.

Limits of municipal authority: staff repeatedly cautioned that some issues are outside city control. Air emissions and certain environmental permits are regulated by state agencies and the federal government; the city can request that applicants present Title V or other air-permit documentation but cannot directly set emissions limits. Staff also said utility rates and some grid-capacity decisions fall to power providers (TVA was discussed as the region's provider), although applicants can be required to demonstrate grid impacts.

Public input and timeline: the city will publish maps, site inventories and the evidence hub online and expects planning commission review cycles, public hearings and two readings at council. Staff outlined a minimum procedural window of about two months for the first publicly noticed hearing and an overall aim to complete a workable code within roughly 18 months, while keeping the ordinance amendable after adoption.

What’s next: staff will post the project hub with study links and site maps, pursue follow-up technical presentations (fire/EMT, noise measurement) and continue public forums. The city emphasized it wants community input to shape defensible, measurable protections rather than a blanket ban.