Frederick City Council Committee Meeting on Data Centers, Sidewalks, and Brownfields - February 10, 2026
Frederick City Council Committee Meeting on Data Centers, Sidewalks, and Brownfields - February 10, 2026
The Government Operations Committee of the Frederick City Council met on February 10, 2026, at 9:00 AM to discuss work plans for a data center regulatory framework, sidewalk maintenance, and a brownfield ordinance. The committee also heard public comments and deliberated on next steps for each item.
Public Comments & Testimony
- Kevin Salneres (speaker name unclear) commented on the data center regulatory framework, urging the inclusion of maximum water demand per day (in addition to average) as a criterion, citing the county's experience during drought.
- Joe Whitebird, representing Tramel Crow Company (applicant for the Critical Digital Infrastructure zoning text amendment), spoke in support of the framework. He noted that the proposed text amendment limits data center construction to less than 0.5% of the city's land area and retains City Council control over future expansions. He expressed the company's willingness to collaborate on developing performance standards.
- Donna Kazamchak (City of Frederick) raised concerns about poor audio quality in the meeting room, making it difficult for attendees to hear. She also expressed concern about potential liability and tax increases if the city assumes responsibility for sidewalk repairs.
Discussion Items
- Data Center Regulatory Framework Work Plan: The committee reviewed a draft work plan and a list of regulatory questions (water consumption, power, noise, taxes, community benefits, etc.). Councilmember Shackleford argued that the scope is too broad for a few presentations and recommended forming a task force to gather holistic input from all stakeholders (city departments, residents, developers, county). Councilmember Hempeling (also referred to as Heppel Rennie) suggested a field trip to other municipalities with data centers and proposed inviting departments to provide executive summaries. The chair noted that the work plan is a starting point and that the committee would first invite the City Sustainability Department to present. A broader discussion of the regulatory framework will continue after the zoning text amendment is received from the planning commission (expected May 2026).
- Sidewalk Maintenance Work Plan: The committee discussed a plan to study sidewalk maintenance costs, hear from the Department of Public Works (DPW) on a pending sidewalk study, and evaluate potential cost-sharing models. Councilmember Hempeling raised equity concerns about focusing on downtown versus all districts. Councilmember Shackleford emphasized the need for an equitable solution and noted that the mayor allocated $2 million in the previous budget for sidewalk repairs. The city attorney warned that assuming full city responsibility for sidewalks could increase liability and insurance costs. The committee agreed to wait for the DPW sidewalk study before making decisions.
- Brownfield Text Amendment: The committee reviewed a draft amendment to the land management code requiring documentation of environmental mitigation for vacant land before development. The amendment originated from resident concerns (e.g., Brickworks area) and was initiated by the previous council. The city is awaiting an opinion from the Maryland Attorney General on legal feasibility. The committee will continue discussions once the opinion is received.
Key Outcomes
- The committee will invite the City Sustainability Department to present on data center issues as the first action item.
- The data center regulatory framework work plan and list of questions will be refined based on feedback, with the goal of gaining knowledge before the planning commission's May 2026 zoning text amendment.
- The committee will await the DPW sidewalk study before considering changes to the sidewalk repair ordinance.
- The brownfield text amendment will be revisited after the city obtains an Attorney General's opinion.
- No formal votes were taken; all decisions were procedural.
Meeting Transcript
Pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America to the republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible with liberty and justice for all. All right. So with apologies to my colleagues, I was not able to finish a draft of the home work plan, but thank you, Councilmember Shackleford, for the data that you supplied. That was a helpful start. But that proved to be a bigger elephant than I could eat. So we'll we'll get there soon. But today we'll go over the work plans for the uh data center regulatory uh framework, and if we have time, sidewalk maintenance and brownfield. So that's our our goal for today. Um first um on the screen is the draft of the framework plan. And I guess if we could just go look at the phases and see if those make sense. The priority task request presentation from the City Sustainability Department, request economic development department presentation, planning department, and then comment from a bunch of different groups. We can supplement those groups based upon that. Uh I don't expect this to happen at one meeting, but just as we go through. And that's uh that's the data collection information gathering. And second is to review and edit the regulatory framework. We'll look at that document next. And some of this may overlap. And then based upon what happens next, maybe review the proposed CDI text amendment that the planning department and planning commission will be looking at. And that kind of is where we end. I'm not I was told and cannot remember the timing for the planning commission work, but I think it's going to be May. I think that's where it's headed, is for a May presentation. So do you know, Scott? Or attorney? We just um they just had the um comments issued back to the person of the group that was presenting that. So I don't know how soon they're going to respond to those comments and what the track is for that. Okay. But but that will be going through planning commission before it comes back, right? Certainly to the whole council. So right. Okay. So at this juncture, and again, the document can be edited further, but any questions or comments or concerns about the the work plan. Can Ms. Phyllis, can you show the second screen for me a second? Um, yeah, I don't have my glasses. I can I can see some of it. I could I I can see some of it on here in terms of the larger portion there. Um people are better off now. Yes. So I guess my question is the purpose of this right here is to gather information in preparation for as it comes to the planning commission for it then to for us to make a recommendation, or I'm just trying to under or us to from a fact-gathering standpoint. I'm just trying to understand this. That's a great question. So the planning department and the planning commission will be working on a series of issues as it relates to the proposed text amendment. The scope of activities that we're about to look at for understanding is going to be much broader than that. And the goal is that we will enable ourselves to have knowledge about data center and data center regulation in anticipation of two things. First, the proposed text amendment coming in front of us. We'll have a lot more knowledge there. And second, there will be regulatory aspects of that that we will need to put, I believe, into code as an ordinance in the management of those data centers. And so we'll have a leg up as far as gathering that information. And of course, areas were identified from for them in terms of their planning commission made recommendations in regards to and their land use.
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