Around BirminghamThursday, November 5
Irondale's City Council takes up strict rules for data centers
The 5AM Hoover team
If you follow data center talk around Birmingham, Irondale just wrote its rulebook. The City Council was set to introduce an ordinance Wednesday, Nov. 4 covering size, noise, water and power. The biggest, called hyperscale, would need conditional-use approval and sit at least 1,000 feet from homes, schools, parks, churches and waterways.
Irondale would sort data centers into three sizes
| Type | Size or power demand |
|---|---|
| Micro | Under 10,000 sq. ft., under 1 megawatt |
| Medium | At least 10,000 sq. ft. or 1 megawatt |
| Hyperscale | Over 200,000 sq. ft. or over 30 megawatts |
Source: WBMA
Closed-loop cooling would generally be required, and evaporative cooling would be prohibited. Developers would generally pay for things like substations and road improvements.
- Medium centers: generally a 400-foot setback
- Hyperscale zoning: primary industrial areas only
- Council vote: Dec. 15, with public comment
- Ideas for the ordinance: send them to the city
“We are not recruiting data centers, and data centers are not coming to the city of Irondale.”
Stewart called the ordinance a precaution and said the city has worked on it for seven months.
The draft sets firm numbers for noise, distance and cleanup
- 50 decibels
- daytime noise limit at residential property lines
- 45 decibels
- nighttime noise limit
- 1,000 feet
- minimum distance for hyperscale centers from homes
- 125%
- of estimated decommissioning costs in financial assurance
Source: WBMA