St. Louis County's proposed data center regulations have cleared the Planning Commission and now head to the County Council, according to First Alert 4.

The rules would apply to unincorporated parts of the county and create a four-tier classification system based on facility size and energy use. The largest data centers, classified as "major" facilities of 250,000 square feet or more, or using 50 or more megawatts of power, would have to sit at least 500 feet from homes and parks. That buffer was increased from an initial 300-foot proposal after public pushback, according to KSDK.

Data centers would be banned outright in residential zones, flood plains, park and scenic districts and retail areas. Major facilities would be restricted to industrial zones and require public hearings and County Council approval.

Smaller tiers face fewer restrictions. Micro data centers, under 10,000 square feet and using less than 3 megawatts, would be allowed outright in certain zones. Small and standard facilities would need conditional use permits in office and commercial districts.

The proposal also requires noise studies, energy and water use reporting, landscaping buffers, cool roofs and limits on when backup generators can be tested. Standard and major facilities would face annual reporting requirements and independent compliance reviews.

Most commenters opposed data centers

The St. Louis County Department of Planning received more than 200 written comments on the proposal, according to KSDK. More than half urged the county to ban data centers entirely.

At an Aug. 10 public hearing, St. Louis Public Radio reported that 15 members of the public opposed the rules and three supported them. Mary Kennedy, the county's principal planner, said at that hearing that the vast majority of emailed feedback came from residents worried about utility rate increases, energy and water consumption, pollution, noise and infrastructure strain. Nearly half of those emails specifically cited concerns about higher electric bills, according to St. Louis Public Radio.

Kennedy said her department started work on the rules in late April.

Page pushes separate noise rules

County Executive Sam Page said he wants to go further than the commission's proposal by passing separate legislation targeting data center noise.

"Noise can impact someone's ability to sleep, it can impact stress and dramatically impact quality of life, and data centers present a unique challenge … they run around the clock," Page said, according to First Alert 4.

Page said existing noise standards do not adequately capture the sound data centers produce.

Wildwood already acted

Wildwood approved its own data center zoning rules in May. The Wildwood City Council voted to limit data centers to the M3 Planned Industrial District, which covers the Wildwood portion of Chesterfield Valley, and to require conditional use permits.

Joe Vujnich, Wildwood's director of Planning and Parks, said the performance standards are reasonable for protecting residents and the environment if a data center locates in the city's industrial area. Wildwood City Attorney John Young said the city lacks legal authority to ban data centers outright, calling regulation "the appropriate approach," according to West Newsmagazine.

Individual municipalities within the county can still set their own rules. The county's regulations would govern only unincorporated areas.

No vote date has been set.