The Town of Henrietta is reviewing a proposed local law that would prohibit data centers in all zoning districts except through incentive zoning in industrial zones or the mixed-use employment area overlay district. A public hearing on the local law is scheduled for the Henrietta Town Board meeting tonight.
“We don’t want to shut them out,” said Henrietta Town Supervisor Stephen Schultz at the July 1 town board meeting. “We want to make sure they go in the correct location. And if they’re going to put an impact on our community, then we want to make sure they offset that impact.”
Tonight’s meeting is 6 p.m. at town hall. The town code does not currently address large-scale data centers. The proposed local law would let the town get ahead of large-scale data centers, Schultz said in a July 15 email.
The biggest issue with data centers are power consumption and water cooling, Schultz said.
The incentives the town could request could include upgrading the local substation or expanding sewer or water lines to more wide-flung areas of the township. Henrietta already has a shortage on power at its substation; Schultz argues a data center developer could bring in not just enough power for its project, but additional as part of the incentive zoning, allow growth in other parts of the town.
There is also the benefit of additional tax revenue for the town, Schultz said in the email.
Gov. Kathy Hochul announced an executive order for a one-year moratorium on permits for data centers on July 14. Some mid-development projects like the Stream U.S. Data Centers project in Genesee County could be held up as a result. The moratorium gives the town more time to go through the process of crafting the local law, but Schultz said in the email that he sees no reason to not finish the process. The law can be amended if the state gives them different options.
This article originally appeared on Rochester Democrat and Chronicle: Henrietta to weigh limits on data centers at tonight’s hearing
Reporting by Steve Howe, Rochester Democrat and Chronicle / Rochester Democrat and Chronicle
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By Steve Howe, Rochester Democrat and Chronicle | USA TODAY Network
