The City of Ames is delaying a decision on a new data center proposal as they consider limiting facilities based on size and energy consumption.
Des Moines-based Lightedge is interested in building a 100,000-square-foot building at the James Herman Banning Ames Municipal Airport.
The project is a smaller, regional‑scale co‑location facility rather than a hyperscale campus serving national and international companies. Lightedge representatives have repeatedly said the building would not house large AI servers.
The proposal was brought to the city on May 12 and the Ames City Council has been reviewing it since, though hundreds of residents have voiced their displeasure.
During Tuesday, July 14’s council meeting, city staff noted what legal tools are available to limit the construction or operation of data centers. Over 100 Ames residents attended, packing council chambers while overfill was directed to the auditorium for viewing.
Despite a protest called “Donuts Not Data Centers” held two hours before Tuesday’s meeting, the attendees were calm and without outburst inside the council chambers.
The city may consider changing zoning, electric and water regulations in its municipal code to limit data centers in designated zones.
The council ultimately voted to delay a decision and will reconsider at the July 28 meeting.
Ward 2 Rep. Tim Gartin said the amount of community engagement over the data center is “unlike anything that I’ve dealt with in 14 years.”
“I think that we owe it to the community to listen carefully to concerns and questions and then pursue those,” Gartin said. “I think it’s going to take some time to do that.”
He is concerned about the level of attention the proposal is taking and is worried about the city’s ability to provide good governance in other areas if the decision takes too long.
Ward 1 Rep. Bronwyn Beatty-Hansen said she wanted to give enough time for additional public input.
How might Ames limit data centers?
There is currently no definition of what a data center is in city code. The city is home to two data centers, though one is up for sale with a $4 million price tag.
A data processing facility was defined by the city in the 1980s, “allowed as an office use in any base commercial or industrial zone,” assistant city Manager Brian Phillips said.
“We don’t think that aligns with what a data center, as we would understand it today, would be appropriately located in,” Phillips said. “It doesn’t accurately capture what occurs in a modern data center.”
The council was encouraged to distinguish data centers as a use separate from the existing data processing definition. Ultimately, the city could restrict data center construction based on size, on-site power generation and its cooling system.
City staff suggested data centers be considered only on a contract rate basis for electric, allowing Ames to contract with a data center customer and requiring the business to pay for the infrastructure up front.
Additional suggestions include establishing criteria and threshold for large water and sewer customers to pay upfront for the cost of the infrastructure through an excess facilities agreement.
The council asked staff to pursue the recommended changes to city code.
Ames residents voice opposition to data center, police monitor response
The city council held a listening session on June 30 where over 400 residents attended to share their thoughts on a new data center.
A poll taken at the start of the meeting showed about 82% of the crowd were opposed, 4% were in favor and 13% were undecided.
An online petition, “Data Build Data Centers in Ames,” has garnered more than 4,200 signatures opposing the proposal, while a Facebook group, “Ames VS Data Centers,” has 277 members.
Beatty-Hansen told the Tribune council members have recieved emails with “threatening rhetoric” since the proposal was unveiled, telling them they “should watch out for your safety if you move ahead with this.” Though the councilmember said she considered the threats low risk, it’s “the first time in my 10-plus year tenure on council that we have had rhetoric like this.”
Large crowds have attened recent city council meetings, and Ames Police Public Information Officer Amber Christian said it’s “always important to think about security since a situation can escalate quickly.”
Though no threats to the council have been reported to the department, they are aware of the emails, while police have noticed “language that continues to be inflammatory and angry, particularly on social media,” Christian said.
The decision to place officers at recent meetings was encouraged based on those variables.
“We take those posts seriously because we often don’t know who is making the statements or their intent,” Christian said. “In these situations, it can be difficult to tell if someone is just venting their frustration or if they represent a concern.”
The meetings “went well from a security standpoint,” she said.
(This article has been updated to include a gallery and a video.)
Celia Brocker is a government, crime, political and education reporter for the Ames Tribune. She can be reached at CBrocker@gannett.com
This article originally appeared on Ames Tribune: Ames delays data center decision. What limits are they considering?
Reporting by Celia Brocker, Ames Tribune / Ames Tribune
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By Celia Brocker, Ames Tribune | USA TODAY Network
