Ogle County Data Center Draft Ordinance - It is Here
Good afternoon everyone.
It is finally here - the much-anticipated data center draft ordinance. Here is a link to the .pdf: Ogle County Data Center Draft Ordinance. We will also copy and paste the contents below for you all to review and reformat (enlarge font, etc.), if you should so wish. (Please note that formatting the original .pdf to this update may alter the general appearance of the text, but the contents will not change.)
Please, if you are available, attend next Tuesday's (October 20th) full county board meeting. It is at 5:30pm (Historic Courthouse - 3rd Floor - County Board Room).
OGLE COUNTY DATA CENTERS SPECIAL USE PROVISIONS FOR I-1 INDUSTRIAL ZONING DISTRICT.
WHEREAS, the Governing Authority of Ogle County is tasked with protecting the County's health, safety, and general welfare, and the County Board is authorized to exercise zoning powers; and
WHEREAS, it is necessary to provide a definition for data centers; and,
WHEREAS, it is necessary to establish design and development standards for data centers to ensure that there is no discernible impact on adjacent properties or residential areas; and,
WHEREAS, to ensure that all data centers will only operate in compliance with applicable environmental standards and best practices within the 1-1 (Industrial) Districts, and to minimize any adverse impacts on neighboring residential, office, and commercial districts, including but not limited to acoustic emissions, air pollution, water usage, and energy consumption; and,
WHEREAS, to ensure that growth and density around high-capacity transit stops focuses on pedestrian orientation and is not hindered by development that does not generate increased pedestrian activity; and,
WHEREAS, in pursuit of a more sustainable and equitable future, it is critical to protect at-risk uses, such as parks, trails, schools, daycares, senior care facilities, and other areas from intensive development that may pose adverse health and environmental impacts; and,
WHEREAS, it is desirable to promote development that minimizes environmental impacts and integrates with existing and planned land uses of Ogle County; and,
WHEREAS, to recognize the rapid changes within the data center industry and to account for the lifecycle of sites, ensuring that developments can be adaptively reused and can be revitalized with the possibility of future reuse; and,
WHEREAS, to ensure that development of data centers remains compatible with all character areas and that their use is located within the appropriate character areas) designated in the 2050 Comprehensive Unified Plan;
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT ORDAINED by the Governing Authority of Ogle County, Illinois, that Code of Ogle County, is hereby amended as follows:
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Defined terms of the Code of Ogle County, to add the following terms:
Closed Loop System: A system that constantly reuses and recycles an initial load of water within its operation, significantly reducing the draw on external water sources and minimizing wastewater discharge. A closed loop system shall not use evaporative cooling, and may consist of methods including, but not limited to, air-cooled (dry) cooling, rear-door heat exchanger cooling, hybrid dry economizer cooling, direct-to-chip cooling, immersion cooling or other innovative cooling or heat rejection technologies.
Data Center: A building or buildings which are occupied primarily by computers and/or telecommunications and related equipment where digital information is processed, transferred and/or stored, primarily to and from offsite locations with purpose of managing data, providing data applications, data support systems, and/or data support services. This use does not include computers or telecommunications related equipment that is secondary and customarily incidental to an otherwise permitted use on the property, such as servers associated with an office building. This use shall also include cryptocurrency mining, block chain transaction processing, and server farms. A data center may include data center accessory uses.
Data Center, Accessory: Ancillary uses or structures secondary and incidental to a data center use, including but not limited to: administrative, logistical, fiber optic, storage, and security buildings or structures; sources of electrical power such as generators used to provide temporary power when the main source of power is interrupted; electrical substations; utility lines; domestic and non-contact cooling water and wastewater treatment facilities; water holding facilities; pump stations; water towers; environmental controls (air conditioning or cooling towers, fire suppression, and related equipment); security features, provided such data center accessory uses/structures are located on the same tract or assemblage of adjacent parcels developed as a unified development with a data center. The use shall not include energy generation systems used or intended to be used to supply power to the data center during normal operations.
Data Center, Campus: A data center campus is a geographically contiguous development of one or multiple buildings built across one or multiple phases totaling at least 500,000 square feet.
Data Center, Major: A major data center has an area between 100,000 square feet and 499,999 square feet and has a substation.
Data Center, Medium: A medium data center has an area between 20,000 square feet and 99,999 square feet and may include a substation.
Data Center, Minor: A minor data center has an area of less than 20,000 square feet and does not have a substation.
Data Center, Operator: The person or entity responsible for the post-construction operation of a data center.
Load: The total power consumed by servers, storage, cooling, ventilation, generators, and other networking devices that operate within a data center.
Megawatt (MW): The unit of measurement for electricity that is equivalent to one million watts. This is commonly used to measure the total power consumption of a data center.
Substation: An electric utility facility that converts higher voltages to lower voltages within, or separate from, a data center to deliver sufficient power at maximum efficiency; may operate independently as a dedicated site once directly connected to a transmission line(s).
Square Footage, Data Centers: The square footage of a data center shall include the total square footage of each floor in the data center development, the square footage of any supporting uses, and the square footage of any additional exterior equipment, such as substations, electrical yards, mechanical yards, and all other exposed equipment, located within the property boundaries.
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A. SPECIAL USE PERMIT REQUIREMENTS.
Special Use Permit Conditions - as part of its approval of a Special Use Permit for a data center, the County Board may impose conditions on the applicant regarding ground water usage, electricity usage and noise if necessary for the application to satisfy the Special Use Permit Standards.
B. PERMITTED LOCATIONS.
Data centers of all classifications shall only be permitted on parcels of land zoned I-1 Industrial District by Special Use Permit (SUP)
C. APPLICATION REQUIREMENTS FOR ALL DATA CENTERS.
All applications for any new data center, regardless of SUP requirements, shall, in addition to any other application requirements of this code, provide the following information and tees:
1. Ogle County Data Center Application Fee - shall be submitted to support processing and hiring third party certified engineers and environmental specialist per Fee Schedule:
a) $150K for Data Center Campus and Major
b) $100K for Data Center Medium
c) $50K for Data Center Minor
2. Electricity Procurement - as part of its application for a special use permit, the applicant shall provide information setting forth how it plans to procure electricity for the site.
3. Economic Impact Analysis - applicant shall submit, as part of a formal application for a special exception for a data center, a formal economic impact analysis, which shall include the following criteria:
a) Accurate and good faith estimate of all costs that may be incurred by the County and township related to infrastructure, emergency preparedness, administrative costs, police and fire protection.
b) Accurate and good faith estimate of the revenues generated by the data center including revenues generated from real estate sales, real estate taxes and income taxes for the township, school district in which the township is located and county in which the township is located.
4. A Noise and Vibration Impact Assessment Plan - an applicant shall provide as part of its application
a noise and vibration impact assessment plan, which plan shall include a sound and vibration study that (i) assesses the projected noise and vibration from the proposed data center at the property line and (ii) provides an analysis of any potential noise and vibration that may impact nearby properties that are owned by other owners. The sound study and vibration study shall demonstrate that the proposed data center will comply with all applicable federal and State laws and regulations on noise and vibration, including, without limitation, applicable Illinois Environmental Protection Agency noise regulations. The sound and vibration study shall address the proposed final state of the property and not conditions during construction.
5. A Water Supply, Consumption, Monitoring, and Sustainability Plan - shall address conservation and scarcity, outlining the total water requirement of the data center, including cooling needs, and any strategies to reduce or mitigate excessive water usage. The plan shall demonstrate that water usage will not significantly strain Ogle County's water supply and comply with all aspects of the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency requirements and standards. The water consumption and sustainability plan shall be reviewed by Ogle County Soil and Water, Illinois designated State Agencies, and County third party reviewer. The water consumption, monitoring, and sustainability plan shall specifically and clearly demonstrate:
a) The projected water demands of the data center, include both average and peak daily consumption.
b) The source of water to be used.
i. Public water supply: if the use will be served by a public water supply, the applicant shall submit documentation from the public authority certifying that the public authority will supply the water needed and impact to county water supplies.
ii. Rock River basin: if the use is to rely upon nonpublic sources of water and satisfies either of the conditions below, the applicant shall provide proof of review from the Ogle County Soil and Water Conservation District, the Illinois EPA, and/or other equivalent state agency.
iii. Groundwater withdrawals: for groundwater sources, the water feasibility study shall include a hydrogeological report prepared by a registered professional geologist or engineer licensed by the State of Illinois analyzing whether the proposed groundwater withdrawals will comply with all applicable State laws and regulations.
No data center shall be approved unless the applicant demonstrates that there is an adequate supply of water for the proposed use and that proposed water withdrawals and discharges will not endanger or adversely affect the quantity or quality of groundwater supplies or surface waters in the vicinity.
6. An Energy Consumption Modeling and Sustainability Plan - shall include the projected daily operational load once constructed. This assessment shall demonstrate:
a) Estimates of proposed improvements and alternatives to minimize the need for additional transmission lines from the designated power provider.
b) Discuss and delineate facility "Power Usage Effectiveness" or "PUE" as defined as the ratio of total building energy consumption divided by the total Information Technology equipment (servers, switches, storage devices, etc.)
i. PUE of 1.2 or less is optimal
c) Compliance with energy code requirements specified in whichever of the following is most stringent:
i. The latest adopted International Energy Conservation Code (IECC);
ii. The latest published ASHRAE Standard 90.4 (Sections 6 & 8); or
iii. Illinois-specific data center energy code requirements adopted by rule, which may include more detailed criteria such as Mechanical Load Component (MLC) and Electrical Load Component (ELC) measures.
d) A decommissioning plan for unsold or surplus data infrastructure, for recycling all on-site electronic infrastructure through certified recyclers that follow Responsible Recycling (R2) Standard for Electronics
e) Recyclers and/or e-Stewards® Standard for Responsible Recycling and Reuse of Electronic Equipment.
f) Planned use of sustainable practices to limit or offset the data center's use of power and water.
g) Delineation of system designed to supply power directly to a data center during normal operations, including solar, wind, fossil fuel, or nuclear energy generating systems, shall not be considered part of the data center use. Note: Such systems shall be considered a separate use and shall be approved according to the zoning regulations applicable to such use.
7. Architectural and General Design Plan - shall be submitted as part of application process and shall include detailed drawings and 3D renderings. The following additional considerations and constraints shall also be in place and part of requirements:
a) When within 300 feet of a publicly accessible road or right-of-way, data centers shall have a minimum of thirty (30) percent of the width of the front façade at the ground level or any building shall consist of fenestration. Murals or other decorative treatments may count towards the fenestration requirements, up to 10% of the front facade. Fenestration requirements listed in this section beyond those otherwise required shall not apply to minor data centers.
i. A mural shall be a large image, such as a painting, applied directly to a wall. Murals are public
art and shall not be used for commercial advertising.
b) A minimum of ten percent (10%) of the width of side and rear facades shall incorporate decorative faux windows, architecturally glazed windows, or other decorative treatment, such as murals.
c) The following materials shall not be utilized on any data center building façade: aluminum siding; corrugated steel; vinyl siding; plywood; pressed wood products; synthetic stucco; or unfinished concrete block.
d) A data center campus shall have unified landscape and architectural elements.
e) Building height for any data center shall not exceed eighty (80) feet which shall be measured from average finished grade (determined by averaging the elevations of the finished grade around the entire footprint of the structure) to the top of the highest roof beams on a flat roof, to the deck level on a mansard roof, and to the average distance between the eaves and the ridge level for gable, hip, shed, and gambrel roofs. The building height limitation in the subsection shall not apply to the parapet of the building or any mechanicals and screening used to shield mechanicals, which shall be governed by Section 7 g of this Ordinance.
f) Any data center building façade that faces a road or existing residential use must incorporate at least two of the following design elements every 150 horizontal feet:
i. A change in building material, pattern, texture, or color;
ii. A change in building height;
iii. Building step-backs or recesses having a minimum depth of five (5) feet
g) Rooftop mechanical equipment, including but not limited to heating, air conditioning, ventilation, generators, and similar equipment shall not exceed a height of thirty (30) feet.
h) Any rooftop mechanical equipment, including but not limited to heating, air conditioning, ventilation, generators, and similar equipment, shall be screened with a parapet wall, false roof, or other building element so as to fully conceal the mechanical equipment from the adjacent roadways and properties and from the site itself.
i) The parapet wall, false roof, or building element shall be designed to be architecturally integrated with the building's overall design.
j) No screening shall be required for renewable energy infrastructure equipment, including but not limited to solar energy systems, wind energy systems, and other power generation equipment.
k) No screening shall be required for any green infrastructure, including but not limited to green roofs, rooftop cisterns, and other bio-retention equipment.
I) If an application includes the use of renewable energy sources to offset at least fifty (50) percent data center's total energy usage, the project shall be permitted to increase the height of a building to a maximum of one hundred fifty (150) feet, subject to compliance with required transitional building height planes. Renewable energy sources may consist of solar panels, on-site solar farm, small-scale wind turbines, waste heat recovery, and other renewable energy sources.
m) Where conflict with other ordinances, the more strict of the two shall apply.
8. Traffic Impact Analysis - An applicant shall submit, as part of an application for a special use permit for a proposed data center, a formal traffic impact analysis, prepared by a professional traffic engineer suitable to the County Engineer and County Zoning Administrator, meeting the following criteria:
a) Traffic impact on all roadways, intersections and interchanges within at least a one- half-mile radius of the site. The analysis radius may be expanded as a condition of special exception approval by the Zoning Board of Appeals as a part of the Special Use Permit hearing.
b) Description of traffic characteristics of the proposed development.
c) Traffic volumes for average daily traffic at peak hours, before and after proposed development, including through residential areas.
d) Source of trip generation rates used.
e) Origin and destination analysis of projected traffic.
f) Documentation of on-site and off-site improvements proposed to mitigate any adverse impacts.
g) Parking demand for the data center, including parking for employees, deliveries, independent contractors, visitors and large truck deliveries.
h) All other information, findings, conclusions and recommendations necessary to produce a complete analysis in compliance with generally accepted traffic engineering principles and practices.
i) Identification of potential traffic hazards and/or congestion identified by the traffic impact analysis shall be avoided and/or mitigated in compliance with generally accepted traffic engineering principles and practices to the satisfaction of the County Engineer.
9. Landscape Buffer and Data Center Fencing Plan - shall be issued delineating landscape buffer requirement between data centers and data center accessory uses and any adjoining residential zoning district, Sensitive Receptor, or public roadway. The landscape buffer plan shall comply with the following requirements:
a) The landscape buffer shall be at least twenty five (25) feet in width and may be part of the minimum setback distance. The required buffer may be reduced by the County Board as part of an approved Special Use Permit.
b) The landscape buffer shall be free of structures, dumpsters, storage or display areas, signs, materials, loading or unloading areas, and vehicle parking.
c) The landscape buffer shall include plantings to achieve a dense, opaque, four-season screen and shall consist of native species planted as follows:
i. One (1) large evergreen tree per 25 linear feet of buffer. The size of large evergreen trees shall be a minimum of eight (8) feet in height at the time of planting.
ii. One (1) deciduous canopy (shade) tree per 75 linear feet of buffer. Size of canopy (shade) trees shall be a minimum of 2½ inch caliper at the time of planting.
iii. One ornamental/flowering tree per 50 linear feet of buffer. The size of ornamental/flowering trees shall be a minimum of eight (8) feet in height for multi-stemmed varieties, or 2½ inch caliper at the time of planting for single-stemmed varieties.
iv. Five (5) shrubs per 25 linear feet of buffer. Size of shrubs shall be fully branched and minimum of three feet in height at the time of planting. Shrubs shall be a combination of evergreen and deciduous species, with a minimum of 50% being evergreen.
d) All plantings shall conform to the standards of the Ogle County list of acceptable plant species or shall be approved by the County Engineer, and/or Illinois-registered landscape architect, or certified arborist.
e) A variety of species shall be used in order to prevent mono-cultural plantings. American arborvitae and similar weak-stem plants shall not be used to meet the buffer yard requirements. If more than 20 evergreen plants are proposed, no more than 50% shall be of one species.
f) A monotonous straight row of the same species shall not be permitted. A more naturalistic form of planting with a mix of species shall be provided.
g) In the event that existing topography and/or vegetation is adequate to meet the intent of the required buffer yard, such existing topography and/or vegetation may constitute all or part of the required buffer yard.
h) All buffer yard plantings shall be perpetually maintained by the property owner. Any plant material that dies, is removed, is diseased, or is severely damaged shall be replaced by the current property owner, on a one-to-one basis, as soon as is practical considering growing seasons, within a maximum of 150 days.
i) All buffer yard screenings shall be assured by a performance guarantee posted with the County in an amount equal to the estimated cost of all such trees, shrubs, plantings, and installation. Such guarantee shall be released only after passage of the second growing season following planting.
j) Fencing of the property is permitted, provided that fencing along public and private roadways is not chain-link, with or without slated inserts, and does not include barbed wire or other similarly visibly intrusive deterrence device. An applicant shall not be required to comply with this requirement if fencing is fully screened from view by one or more of the means identified in subparagraph 1 above.
10. Prairie and Tree Preservation and Reforestation/Reclamation Plan: a prairie and tree preservation and reforestation plan shall outline plans to minimize tree removal and enhance rural prairie and forestry efforts to restore surrounding land to similar native habitat. The overall plan will disclose design and mechanisms for restoring surrounding land.
11. Stormwater/Runoff Management Plan: a stormwater management plan shall address how the site's development and operation shall manage storm water runoff, as well as any mitigation measures to prevent negative impacts on local water systems. This plan will require review and approval by the County Engineer.
12. Sewer Plan (If Applicable): a sewer plan shall evaluate and include the following
a) Actual and expected daily sewer flow.
b) Identify potential or planned sanitary sewer capacity projects.
c) An on-site treatment plan, including any necessary equipment to conduct trace analyses and consistent monitoring of chemical use for on-site water preparation and treatment.
d) An analysis of the community's treatment system, or a private treatment system, to determine whether there is adequate capacity to serve the forecasted growth or has planned improvements to add capacity to accommodate the forecasted growth.
e) Clear indication of pipe size, material type, percent grade, and length of all pipes.
f) A utility plan with direction of sewer flow.
g) Disclose pretreatment or discharge permit request if any effluent leaves the closed loop system to sanitary or storm sewers for the Ogle County Health Department.
h) Submit a Closure and Disposal Plan at decommissioning covering treatment systems, chemical waste, and related infrastructure.
i) Disclosure Water Usage Effectiveness (WUE) target or performance metric.
13. Monitoring and Environmental Test Plan Compliance shall be provided by Data Center owner and/or operator and include template outlines for
a) Template example of annual compliance reports that detail any changes to, and continuation of all, assessments submitted with an application and demonstrating compliance and monitoring of all application requirements and conditions of zoning to the Zoning Administrator, or his/her/their designee no later than the first of January of each year that provide, which templates must include the following information except if the provision of such information creates a security concern.
i. Data Center Total Annual Power Usage
ii. Annual On-site Power and Renewable Power Generation
iii. Annual Water Usage/Consumption
iv. Storm Water/Runoff Monitoring
v. Well Monitoring
b) Template example of three (3) year Aquifer Water Study with State of Illinois Water Survey and Illinois Geological Survey
14. Emergency Response Plan shall be prepared and submitted to County and affected township(s) detailing procedures for fire suppression, containment, ventilation, and evacuation of the data center including protocols and procedures to be followed in the event of a natural disaster.
a) The Emergency Response Plan shall be approved by Sheriff and Emergency Management Coordinator.
b) The Emergency Response Plan shall delineate special safety requirements including battery energy storage and ancillary power production systems.
15. Parks, Trails and Residential Zoning. No data center in I-1 Industrial District shall be permitted within 500 feet of the property line of any Ogle County park(s) and/or trails and mixed-use or residentially zoned parcel.
16. Roadways. If an interstate roadway, state highway, or major arterial road abuts the property line of a data center, the required distance between a data center and a residentially zoned property is reduced to 300 feet along the property line where the interstate roadway, state highway, or major arterial is located.
17. Traditional Buffer. Data centers shall maintain a minimum transitional buffer of 100 feet along all property lines abutting any property used for or zoned non-industrial. This Subsection shall not apply to substations.
a) Distance shall be measured from the edge of any building, substation, drive, street, parking lot, structure, or improvement to the nearest property line in a straight line (i.e. "as the crow flies").
b) The required buffer may be reduced by the County Board as part of an approved Special Use Permit.
18. The Zoning Administrator may waive any application requirement set forth in Section C. upon an applicant's showing of good cause.
D. ARCHITECTURAL AND GENERAL DESIGN REQUIREMENTS.
The requirements set forth below in this Section D. shall apply to data center buildings, but not accessory buildings.
1. Facades - A minimum of ten percent (10%) of the width of side and rear facades shall incorporate decorative faux windows, architecturally glazed windows, or other decorative treatment, such as murals
2. Material Utilization - the following materials shall not be utilized on any building façade: aluminum siding; corrugated steel; vinyl siding; plywood; pressed wood products; synthetic stucco; or unfinished concrete block.
3. Unified Landscape - A data center campus shall have unified landscape and architectural elements.
4. Building Height - for any data center shall not exceed eighty (80) feet which shall be measured from average finished grade (determined by averaging the elevations of the finished grade around the entire footprint of the structure) to the top of the highest roof beams on a flat roof, to the deck level on a mansard roof, and to the average distance between the eaves and the ridge level for gable, hip, shed, and gambrel roofs.
5. Rooftop Mechanical Equipment - including but not limited to heating, air conditioning, ventilation, generators, and similar equipment - shall not exceed a height of thirty (30) feet. Data centers in other zoning districts shall comply with the height limit requirements of the relevant zoning district.
6. Rooftop Screening - Any mechanical rooftop equipment, including but not limited to heating, air conditioning, ventilation, generators, and similar equipment, shall be screened with a parapet wall, false roof, or other building element so as to fully conceal the mechanical equipment from the adjacent roadways and properties and from the site itself.
a) The parapet wall, false roof, or building element shall be designed to be architecturally integrated with the building's overall design.
b) No screening shall be required for renewable energy infrastructure equipment, including but not limited to solar energy systems, wind energy systems, and other power generation equipment.
c) No screening shall be required for any green infrastructure, including but not limited to green roofs, rooftop cisterns, and other bio-retention equipment.
7. Renewable Energy Sources. If an application includes the use of renewable energy sources to offset at least forty-five (45) percent data center's total energy usage, the project shall be permitted to increase the height of a building to a maximum of one hundred fifty (150) feet, subject to compliance with required transitional building height planes. Renewable energy sources may consist of solar panels, on-site solar farm, small-scale wind turbines, waste heat recovery, and other renewable energy sources.
E. PARKING REQUIREMENTS.
Parking requirement shall be subject to Division 7 of the Ogle County Amendatory Zoning Ordinance unless as a condition of the special use permit.
F. DATA CENTER OPERATION REQUIREMENTS.
1. Substations - shall be screened from all adjacent public streets, private streets, trails, and parks. Substations associated with the operation of a data center shall only be permitted in I-1 Industrial District and shall be subject to the following requirements:
a) The substation shall be at least fifty (50) feet from any public right-of-way.
2. Lighting - All facility external lighting other than street and pedestrian scale lighting shall have "Dark Sky" design. There shall be no spillover from the fixture onto surrounding properties, including the street. All lights and poles shall have a permanent black finish.
a) Lighting will be monitored and enforced and subject to daily fines
3. Data Center Cooling - Cooling and ventilation equipment shall operate on a closed-loop system or use other cooling and ventilation technologies that provide for efficient cooling and ventilation.
4. External Support Systems - Cooling, ventilation, and other external support equipment shall not be located between the primary data center building and a public road or right-of-way, unless located on the rooftop of a data center building.
5. Screening - All mechanical and utility equipment shall comply with the screening requirements for site and parking area landscaping contained in Section 16-6-22 of the Ogle County Amendatory Zoning Ordinance.
6. Sound Levels - Data centers shall comply with all applicable State laws and regulations on noise.
G. SEVERABILITY.
If any sentence, clause, section, or part of this Ordinance or of the Ogle County Amendatory Zoning Ordinance is for any reason found to be unconstitutional, illegal or invalid, such unconstitutionality, illegality or invalidity shall not affect or impair any of the remaining provisions, sentences, clauses, sections, or parts hereof. It is hereby declared as the intent that this Ordinance and the Ogle County Amendatory Zoning Ordinance would have been adopted had such unconstitutional, illegal or invalid sentence, clause, section or part thereof not been included herein.
H. SPECIAL USE PERMIT WAIVERS.
As part of its approval for a special use permit for a data center, the County may waive any requirements set forth in this Ordinance upon showing of good cause by an applicant or subsequent data center operator.