Tucson Council Passes Data Center Zoning Rules 6-1, Directs Staff to Explore Ban

Tucson Council Passes Data Center Zoning Rules 6-1, Directs Staff to Explore Ban

TUCSON — The Tucson Mayor and Council voted 6-1 Wednesday to adopt Ordinance 12268, a Unified Development Code amendment establishing regulations for large-scale data centers, making the city one of the first in Arizona to place such facilities under a formal zoning framework. Council Member Nikki Lee cast the lone dissenting vote, saying she wanted more time to incorporate public feedback before voting.

The ordinance defines large-scale data centers as facilities exceeding 25,000 square feet or consuming more than 20 megawatts of energy — whichever threshold is reached first — and prohibits them from locating within a half mile of any residential zone or 1,000 feet of commercial or office zones. Under the code, no data center could be approved anywhere in the city by right; every proposal would require a planned area development rezoning, including a neighborhood meeting, a zoning examiner public hearing, and a final vote by the full Mayor and Council. Planning and Development Services Director Koren Manning told the council that only power generation facilities carry an equivalent level of regulatory scrutiny in the city's code.

Before the vote, Council Member Miranda Schubert added a friendly amendment restoring a requirement from the June version of the ordinance that had been dropped: battery storage and low-emitting generators, if available, must be used before high-emitting generators when a facility is disconnected from the grid. Schubert also called on the city to continue researching a legal pathway to a full ban and to pursue strategies to overturn or work around Proposition 207, the state initiative that limits local governments from restricting property uses. City Manager Timothy Thomure said staff would begin follow-up work immediately and bring back any potential code amendments as issues are identified. Council Member Kevin Dahl and others said they believed any hyperscale data center application that reached a council vote would be rejected, pointing to the unanimous 2025 vote against Project Blue as precedent.

The planning commission had voted 6-2 in favor of the amendment but fell short of the seven votes needed for a formal recommendation; Manning said the two opposing commissioners were concerned the regulations were too restrictive rather than too permissive. More than a dozen residents spoke during the public hearing, the overwhelming majority demanding an outright ban and citing water scarcity, noise pollution, heat island effects, and what they described as threats to surveillance and civil liberties. City Attorney Roi Lusk told the council that an outright ban carries legal risk under Proposition 207 and could expose the city to an Arizona Revised Statutes Section 1487 complaint from the state legislature, potentially threatening the city's share of state revenue. He noted that Chino Valley banned solar farms against its attorneys' advice and became the subject of a 1487 complaint, which Lusk said he believed was later withdrawn. Several speakers pointed to New York as a state that has restricted data centers; asked why New York could act when Tucson cannot, Lusk said such bans are an exercise of state power — Arizona is free to pass one, but until it does, the city remains bound by state law.

The council also unanimously approved, 7-0, a rezoning on the consent-adjacent item 9 that clears the way for an Aldi grocery store at 4137 N. 1st Ave., at the southwest corner of Limberlost Drive and 1st Avenue. The site, currently vacant, sits in Ward 3 surrounded by apartment buildings. Dahl, whose ward encompasses the site, noted the developer agreed to use a native plant palette specific to the Tucson Basin — favoring trees and shrubs native to the local environment over broader desert-adapted species — calling it a model for a pending landscape ordinance revision.

A fire services contract extension at the Raytheon Company/U.S. Air Force Plant 44 facility passed 6-0-1, with Lee abstaining. The amendment extends a fire, medical, and special hazard services agreement from June 30, 2026 to Oct. 1, 2026. The remainder of the consent agenda, including an IGA with the state for supplemental construction funding for a 22nd Street bridge replacement, an IGA with Pima Community College for shared educational and training services, and economic and workforce development funding allocations for fiscal year 2027, passed 7-0.

During the call to the audience, a West University resident described conditions around Anza Park — including daily drug dealing, open drug use on park equipment, human waste in the alley behind his home, and what he said was no emergency response to a reported assault the previous Saturday. Mayor Regina Romero said the park's problems were longstanding and directed the city manager to follow up with the resident and his neighbors; Council Member Schubert asked to be included in that outreach.

Also discussed:

• Council Member Paul Cunningham announced the deaths of former Tempe Mayor Harry Mitchell and Tucson Chicano artist and Las Artes founder Alex Garza; Council Member Selina Barajas also memorialized Garza.
• Council Member Lee memorialized longtime Rita Ranch Neighborhood Association leader Rudy Lopez.
• City Manager Thomure yielded his report time to City Attorney Roi Lusk, who memorialized Piroschka Glinsky, a principal assistant city attorney who served the office for over 27 years and died Monday.
• Council Member Barajas noted the $4.7 million Rudy Garcia Park improvement project, funded through the voter-approved Proposition 407 bond program, is underway, and cited ongoing community meetings about the project.
• The 7-Eleven at 3501 E. Grant Rd. liquor license transfer was pulled for separate discussion; Dahl moved to forward it to the state board with a recommendation of approval after explaining the corporate parent was taking over from a departing franchisee who held no violations; the motion carried.
• Tortillas Chiwas at 914 N. Grande Ave. was forwarded to the state liquor board with a recommendation of denial because the location was not in compliance with city planning requirements.