Commissioners Debate Whether Data Center Rules Should Limit Rezoning Near Salina
During their review of proposed data center regulations, Saline County planning commissioners debated how the rules should treat rezoning requests, particularly for land near Salina that is already zoned industrial.
Members discussed language that would restrict rezoning agricultural land to industrial for data center projects, with the concern that such rezoning could amount to spot zoning and attract additional industrial development into rural areas. "What you're doing is like let's say you have something way out south of town and you try to rezone that as an industrial zone, but there's no other industrial around there," one speaker explained of the concern.
Other commissioners worried that broadly applying the data center restrictions could discourage desirable businesses from locating in existing industrial areas close to the city. "We have industrial spots in the county right next to town that if we were to apply some of these restrictions to any type of industry coming in we would never fill those spots," one member said.
Commissioners raised questions about whether the restrictions should apply to all industrial zones or only to data centers, noting that some data centers operate without cooling water and cause few problems. They also discussed the possibility of an overlay district to confine data centers and alternative energy facilities to areas with existing supporting infrastructure, an approach being considered in other counties. The commission agreed to raise the questions again when the full board is present.
