The Warrenton Planning and Zoning Commission approved several amendments to Chapter 405, Amendments to Appendix A, specifically regarding proposed data centers.

The changes included amendments relating to setbacks for generators to be in a tiered form with 100 feet from the property line for nearby residential properties, 50 feet for nearby commercial properties and 25 feet from nearby industrial properties. The commission also changed a provision in the proposed amendments to allow fuel deliveries to be made at any time in the case of emergencies, rather than being limited to between 8 a.m. - 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. While the commission also discussed setting a decibel level requirement at the property line they ultimately did not reach a definitive decision as City Attorney Drew Weber said he would need to do more research before he felt comfortable recommending a specific decibel level requirement.

A public hearing on the proposed amendments garnered comment from one member of the public. Tim Carpenter brought up concerns that the property of the proposed data center abuts a lake on his property, specifically addressing concerns with diesel fuel leeching into his lake and concerns about light pollution from any proposed facility.

Commission member Stephanie Tibbetts started the discussion by noting that the proposed setback from the property line of any generator to be used in a facility was only 25 feet. She said she didn’t feel that was far enough from the property line to protect nearby property owners, suggesting a 200-foot setback instead. Commission member Scott Costello said he had similar concerns with the 25-foot setback requirement. Costello also discussed a decibel level requirement for the operation of any generators. He noted that the proposed ordinance did not have anything regarding specific decibel levels.

Costello then discussed the need for the commission to not use vague definitions in its code as such definitions would hinder future enforcement by the city. Costello also brought up concerns about routine inspections being done quarterly, specifically who would perform those inspections and who would be responsible for ensuring they were done correctly.

Weber noted that any decibel level requirement would have to be from the property line.

The commission then discussed Tibbetts’ proposed 200-foot setback with several members suggesting 200 feet would be too much. Ultimately commission chair Rich Barton suggested having a staggered setback of 100 feet for adjacent residential, 50 feet for adjacent commercial and 25 for adjacent industrial properties, which the commission agreed would be a good consensus point.

John Cornell discussed the limitation that fuel for the generators could only be delivered between the hours of Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. He suggested that in an emergency situation, the requirement should be that off-hours delivery could be done, which was ultimately agreed to.

Cornell also brought up the time-frame of 30 minutes to run generators in testing circumstances, suggesting that the time should be longer, but no consensus was reached on that issue.

Ultimately the commission approved the amendments by a 10-0 vote. The amendments will next be considered by the Warrenton Board of Aldermen at their Dec. 16 meeting.