Colorado Springs Planning Commission Hearing on Data Center Development Plan Appeal – July 23, 2026
Colorado Springs Planning Commission Hearing on Data Center Development Plan Appeal – July 23, 2026
On July 23, 2026, the Colorado Springs Planning Commission held a hearing on five appeals challenging the city planning department's administrative approval of a major modification to a development plan for a data center at Corporate Ridge Filing No. 1 Lot 4 (proposed by Raiden Data Centers). After nearly 14 hours of public testimony, expert presentations, and commissioner deliberations, the commission voted 6-2 to deny all appeals and affirm the approval with four conditions. Commissioner comments emphasized that current Unified Development Code (UDC) definitions may not adequately address modern data center impacts, and a future work session was requested.
Discussion Items
- Zoning and Code Interpretation: City Attorney Trevor Gloss clarified that the current UDC (2023) classifies data centers as a light industrial use; the 2022 council amendment added data centers to this category without planning commission review. Commissioners noted that the term "data center" may be too vague in the code and does not differentiate scale or intensity (e.g., 30 generators, 36 chillers, 50 MW capacity).
- Noise and Sound Impacts: Extensive testimony from applicant’s acoustical consultant, Scott Petrovitz (L. Adams Associates, 26 years experience). The noise study used software (NoiseTools) that models from 63 Hz upward per DBA standards. Low-frequency (DBC, infrasound) analysis was not required but the applicant agreed to monitor DBC if approved. Predicted operational DBA levels at property line: 34 dB at night idle, 41 dB at normal operation, max 46 dB at full load. Ambient baseline was measured at 42 dB. Wall attenuation estimated 15-20 dB difference between DBA and DBC. Sound monitoring equipment captures full spectrum (DBZ) and can be weighted later.
- Environmental and Infrastructure Concerns: Applicant described a closed-loop glycol cooling system with no blowdown or water consumption; heat rejection may be 60% less than previous generation due to new NVIDIA chips allowing 113°F supply temperature. Generators are Tier 4 diesel, tested once a month for 15-30 minutes during weekdays only. Estimated 60-100 jobs on-site (security, engineers, operations, plus vendor and customer staff). The applicant committed to transparent reporting of utility usage and noise data.
- Commissioner Comments: Commissioners Willoughby, Cecil, Engel, Case, Slattery, and Chair Hensler expressed that while the application met existing code criteria, the code itself may need revision to address data center intensity and cumulative impacts. Commissioner Engel favored reporting full spectrum sound. Commissioner Gigiano remained unconvinced about low-frequency noise health effects.
Key Outcomes
- Motion and Vote: Commissioner Slattery moved to deny all appeals and affirm the planning department’s decision with the following conditions (seconded by Commissioner Case):
- Report utility usage (electricity, water) publicly for the first 10 years of operation.
- Limit utility usage to 50 megawatts; any proposed increase must come back to the Planning Commission for approval.
- Replace the M201 sheet with the corrected version submitted by the applicant.
- Modify the sound monitoring plan to include DBC monitoring and reporting in the same manner as DBA.
- The motion passed 6-2, with Commissioners Gigiano and Willoughby voting against.
- Appeal Instructions: Any affected party may appeal this decision to City Council within 10 days (by August 3, 2026) by filing a notice with the City Clerk and paying a $176 fee, specifying code criteria not adequately addressed.
- Future Work Session: Several commissioners requested a future planning commission work session to examine data center definitions, land use categories, noise standards, and cumulative impact regulations.
Meeting Transcript
Uh which was um repealed and replaced in 2023, did contain data centers as a separate line item as a use type as a commercial use, uh which was most similarly evaluated as a type of office use uh under old chapter seven, but with the repeal and replace of chapter seven to now have the UDC in 2023, data centers uh were consolidated as part of the uh efforts to streamline land use uh regulation under code and data centers were placed uh under light industry as a as a use category. They are no longer separately defined under use table. Okay, that's the only thing I needed to know. Thank you. Trevor Gloss for the city attorney's over office. Um sorry, just for the avoidance of doubt. Um there may be questions later on about what version of code commission should be applying. Um because of the timing of this application, the commission should be applying this current UDC code. Uh you don't look back at previous versions, you just use this one. So you use the light industry definition here, the z what the allowed zoning, the appeal criteria, the all everything we've discussed so far today. Commissioner Willoughby, one follow-up question on that. Would you say your interpretation of what a data center was when this code change happened for light industrial to include data center matches? I'm trying to be careful with my words. What you think the definition of a data center is today? Do you do you think that term is too vague in light industrial that is a subjective question? Um I mean, I think what I would say is there was a conscious effort through the uh development of the UDC to align uh certain uses and that were seen as similar impacts in terms of you know noise, traffic, so on and so forth, uh under larger categorizations of land uses. Hence when the decision was made by city council to consolidate through their approval of the UDC uh the data center use, they made the determination that it is in alignment with a light industry level of impact. Okay. One interesting up sorry, Commissioner Cecil for the record. One interesting observation I will make is that the version of the code that was reviewed by this planning by the planning commission, many of whom I don't believe Andrea might be the last one here. Oh no, you didn't got to vote on it. I was an alternate at the time. When it was approved by the planning commission, it did not include data centers. Now it's an amendment that took place at City Council as it was adopted and was not considered through the planning commission. And so that addition in, I think does raise um Commissioner Willoughby's question a bit further on what exactly was meant and was it added in in a way that adequately reflects where we've gotten it Chair Hensler, is there a question in that or just a statement? Oh no, that was total liberty there, just a statement. Yeah, I mean I and I will I will just um add to that it we are going through and actually Commissioner Engel is sitting on the commit the committee for the UDC scrub, and so right, even at time of adoption, there are things that are um needing to be revised and amended and improved in any kind of code or document. Um other questions for city staff. We're ready to move on to questions for the applicant, it sounds like okay. So we'll invite our applicant group uh to return to the stage and we will start with questions. Is anybody ready to Commissioner Engel? I think we'll we'll let you go first. Now you've been waiting a bit. Commissioner Engel, and I I will wait for them to get up here. I'm gonna ask them to pick up a certain slide from the briefing if they can do that also. Yes, the applicant applicant's slide, particularly the one that showed the sound the wall and the amount of attenuation that would go through the wall. I think it was later in the brief. Yeah, they know what you're not talking about. I'm talking about the slide that had the wall, showed the uh attenuation the wall would achieve, and it had both DBA and DBC on it. Got it. Um further back or keep going later. You have the clicker. Oh thank you. Uh you think it is. No, I don't I don't think that is it. It wasn't my imagination, I promise. Go back? It's the screen. Yeah. This one.
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