Another dose of disarray was injected into the City of St. Louis’ effort to regulate data centers Wednesday.
A city planning commission meeting abruptly went into recess after Don Roe, the executive director of planning and urban design, told members he’d received a text message from an unidentified elected official.
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The commission had voted to reject amendments to proposed data center regulations made by the Board of Aldermen last month. The changes would make it easier to build large-scale data centers in the city. But the commission’s confusing recess after Roe made his comment has left its decision without finality—and members unsure what happens next.
For the better part of this year, the planning commission has been wrangling with regulations outlining the conditions under which data centers could be built in St. Louis. The draft by city planners broke data centers into three different categories, sorted by size and power usage. The bigger the data center, the more stringent the regulations.
That proposed framework went before the Board of Aldermen last month. Data center boosters decried it as tantamount to a ban. In general, aldermen seemed sympathetic to the idea that the regulations needed to be loosened.
On July 20, the Board passed an amendment that would allow data centers to apply for waivers on renewable energy requirements if Ameren could not supply adequate renewable energy or credits. Another amendment would give data centers an avenue to exceed the proposed rule capping them at 30 percent of any building. The changes were substantial enough that the plan needed to return to the planning commission for its approval.
Last night, the commission voted to reject those amendments.
By 9:30 p.m., many members of the public who had been attending the meeting virtually had logged off. It was then Roe said that he’d gotten a text message from an elected official, though he wouln’t say who, and encouraged the commission to reconsider their rejection of the amendments.
Roe did not respond to messages left for him at his office or on his cell phone. Holly Roberts, a spokeswoman for Mayor Cara Spencer, said Spencer did not contact Roe.
Regardless of who was on the other end of Roe’s texts, some confused discussion followed his receiving them. The commission went into recess, rather than adjourning. The meeting is still technically in recess as of this morning, which prevents the rejection from earlier in the meeting from being finalized.
“The Planning Commission made their votes,” said Schweitzer, who is a commission member (and voted with the majority to reject the aldermanic changes). “I don’t know what happened to trigger someone to suggest other votes need to be taken.”
The odd chain of events has set off a scramble at City Hall as they figure out how to proceed.
When the meeting does get around to adjourning, assuming the rejections hold, the amendments now go back to aldermen, where they will need 10 votes to pass, rather than a simple majority.
In theory, finding those 10 votes shouldn’t be an issue. The amendment allowing data centers to apply for waivers on renewable energy requirements passed with 12 votes in July (Anne Schweitzer, Alisha Sonnier, and Michael Browning voted no). Even the amendment giving data centers an avenue to exceed the proposed rule capping them at 30 percent of any building had 10 votes. (Aldermanic President Megan Green and Alderman Sharon Tyus joined the aforementioned three in voting no.)
However, even a single defection from the “yes” camp could change the paradigm. Alderwoman Daniela Velazquez is said to be one “yes” vote who data center critics are hoping to sway.
“I would hope any elected official would be open to voting on something after considering new information,” she said Thursday.
