Salem City Council is considering the passage of a zoning code amendment that would ban the construction of data centers within city limits. In July, Mayor Dominick Pangallo had proposed this amendment, which is overwhelmingly popular with Salem residents.
Unfortunately, the city's Planning Board proposed a revision to this amendment that would ban data centers that have an "aggregated power demand of 2 megawatts or higher." This language would put us on the path toward allowing data centers that use less power.
This revised amendment sailed through its first passage vote at last week's City Council meeting. (Although other Councillors expressed concerns about Planning Board's recommended revision, Ward 6 Councillor Katelyn Holappa and Councillor at-Large Ty Hapworth were the only ones who voted against its first adoption.) The Councillors then voted to send the revised amendment back to the City Council Committee on Ordinances, Licenses and Legal Affairs for further review.
The Committee (along with the Committee of the Whole) will meet tomorrow at 6 PM in the City Council Chambers on the 2nd Floor at 93 Washington Street. (See here for details on how to attend the meeting virtually.)
It's vital that you contact Salem City Council ASAP to put the breaks on passing the revised zoning amendment. Please also consider attending the meeting and giving a public comment. (Committee Chair Councillor Andrew W. Varela confirmed that he will permit all public comments relevant to data center development in Salem.)
Below I have provided a sample script for your emails to Salem City Council followed by additional resources to learn more about the proposed ban and why data centers are a threat to public health and the environment.
Sample Letter
Please use the script below to Salem City Council (citycouncilors@salem.com) urge them to outright ban data centers without any qualifications on their wattage. Feel free to use any of the sample emails below. (Send us your letters supporting changing the seal if you'd like us to publish them.)
Subject: No Data Centers Regardless of Their Power Consumption
To: <citycouncilors@salem.com>
Dear City Council,
I am writing to express my deep concerns about the Planning Board's suggested revision to Mayor Pangallo's proposed zoning ban on data centers. Limiting the proposed ban to data centers that have an "aggregated power demand of 2 megawatts or higher" inadvertently opens the door to data centers that consume less energy.
Please ban all data centers regardless of their power demand.
I appreciate concerns that Salem Hospital or other businesses might not be permitted to maintain their own server rooms if the data center ban is enacted. However, please remember that this ban would only apply to businesses whose primary use is a data center. A hospital's primary use is to treat patients, not to operate server farms.
Please also remember that you have the option to do nothing. The Mayor's proposed ban on data centers is actually not even necessary. Data centers are already banned because our zoning code does not list data centers as a principal use for structures in Salem.
The very reason why the Zoning Board of Appeals rejected Prime Group's appeal to build a data center at Shetland Park was because data centers are not listed in Section 3.1 Principal Uses.
By this logic, one could argue that banning only data centers with an "aggregated power demand 2 megawatts or higher" does not permit data centers with less power demand. While that is factually correct, there are legitimate concerns that large corporations might attempt to strong-arm the city into accepting smaller data centers.
In today's newsletter, Councillor Katelyn Holappa wrote: "If we open ourselves up to allowing data centers "with limitations" we run the real risk of people trying to stretch those limitations via litigation against the city. Do we really want to open ourselves up to that legal liability? That's time and money that we could (and should!) be spent on improving the quality of life of residents, not fighting billionaires in court."
In summary, I ask that you either remove the power wattage qualification on the proposed data center ban, or choose not to approve Mayor Pangallo's proposed zoning amendment. Either of these actions sends a clear signal to developers that data centers are unwelcome here in Salem.
Thank you for your consideration.
Further Reading
Katelyn Holappa
Food & Water Watch
Meeting Videos
Below are videos of recent city meetings during which Mayor Pangallo's proposed data center ban has been discussed.
City Council and Planning Board Joint Public Meeting, September 9th
City Council Regular Meeting, September 24th
Also Worth Checking Out
Molly Taft
Adam Mahoney
Justin Hendrix
