🔊 Will these facilities be noisy?

Data centers produce noise primarily from cooling equipment and the periodic testing of backup generators. Battery storage sites are generally quieter but include cooling and inverter equipment.

“What about the data centers you’ve seen built right next to homes?” Those videos — like the Northern Virginia data center sitting across the street from houses — are real, and they are exactly the outcome this draft ordinance is written to prevent. A facility here could not be built across the street from your home: it must sit at least 500 feet from any home (1,000 feet for large facilities), meet enforceable noise limits, and be screened. The problem in those clips isn’t that data centers exist — it’s that they were sited with little or no separation. We require that separation up front.

There’s another factor in some of those cases: a facility can create a lot of its noise (and emissions) by running on diesel generators instead of connecting to the electric grid. The City would require a project to connect to the grid and would not permit generators to serve as primary power — generators here would be limited to backup and required testing (Section 13B).

What the City can require / commit to:

• A noise limit (measured in decibels at the property line) as a condition of approval.
• Setbacks from homes and sensitive areas so distance reduces sound.
• Sound walls, equipment enclosures, and landscaped buffers.
• Restrictions on generator testing hours.
• Connection to the electric grid, with generators limited to backup and testing — not primary power.
• The ability to enforce these limits after the facility opens.

The draft ordinance already sets specific, enforceable limits: noise may not exceed 55 dBA during the day or 45 dBA at night, measured at the nearest home (Section 10), and facilities must sit at least 500 feet from homes — 1,000 feet for large facilities (Section 7). Exceeding the limit is an enforceable zoning violation, and the City may require post-construction testing.