🗺️ What about flooding, natural disasters, and other location risks?

This is a fair question, and an honest answer starts by admitting the risk is real in general: by one 2026 analysis, nearly 80% of data-center capacity worldwide sits in areas exposed to climate hazards such as flooding, high winds, or wildfire. That’s a global figure — not specific to Linn Valley — but it is exactly why where and how a facility is built matters, and why the City’s review process focuses on it.

Siting avoids flood and hazard areas. Responsible site selection screens out mapped floodplains and natural-hazard areas, and local floodplain management is a standard, enforceable land-use tool. The City’s own ordinance and review are the most reliable lever here — the City can require a project to sit outside mapped flood-hazard areas and to manage stormwater on site.

Environmental review happens before anything is built. A Phase I Environmental Site Assessment — the federally recognized “All Appropriate Inquiries” investigation — examines a property’s history and condition before it changes hands or develops. The City can require this up front, so problems are identified before approval, not after.

These facilities are engineered to be resilient. Data centers are built to recognized reliability standards (such as the Uptime Institute Tier Classification System), with redundant power and cooling and backup systems, specifically so equipment failures and disruptions don’t take them down. Resilience is a core design requirement, not an afterthought.

About “geopolitical” risk: that part of the national conversation is really about national security and a company’s own operations — it isn’t a local land-use question. For Linn Valley, the location risks that matter are flooding and siting, and those are squarely within the City’s review.

What the City can require / commit to:

• Siting outside mapped flood-hazard areas, with stormwater management.
• A Phase I Environmental Site Assessment before approval.
• Proof the facility meets recognized reliability/resilience standards with backup power and cooling.
• Setbacks and buffers under Section 7 and Section 8 of the draft ordinance.

An honest caveat: no site anywhere is risk-free. The goal is not to pretend otherwise — it’s to make sure risks are identified through review and managed through engineering standards before a project is ever approved.