(Closing 2025 with a very hot topic article I did for a December West Newsmagazine issue.)
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A bill changing the classification for facilities hosting or processing data from permitted to conditional passed unanimously at the Dec. 8 Creve Coeur City Council meeting.
The council and staff had discussed the measure, concerns about data centers and how such developments will factor into emerging technologies at the council’s Nov. 24 meeting.
“Data centers have been a hot topic in the region,” Director of Community Development Jason Jaggi said on Nov. 24. “Lately, a lot of proposals have generated a lot of public interest such as in the city of St. Charles and the city of St. Louis next to the Armory, which have been two of the more high-profile projects.”
Recently the Festus City Council voted in favor of annexing land to build a 240-acre data center.
Jaggi said Creve Coeur has had a good number of discussions regarding how it would treat data centers, which are currently classified under data processing, hosting and related services by the North American Industry Classification System.
“Those would be permitted uses right now,” Jaggi said. “As permitted uses, they wouldn’t be subjected to any sort of review in how they operate and what potential impacts they may generate. They would just be permitted by an occupancy permit, inspections and any permits needed to fill the space.
“What we’re proposing is to change the categorization of this use – which isn’t exclusive to data centers, but it includes them – from permitted uses in the planned office, research office, planned commercial, central or core business and light industrial districts (to conditional uses).”
Jaggi said those account for the majority of Creve Coeur’s commercial districts. This change means a proposed facility under that classification would require a review by the Planning & Zoning Commission (P&Z) as well as the council.
“Any sort of impact or issues that may arise for a data center application, we would be able to understand how that specific use would be operated, and there would be the ability by the city to place restrictions in terms of mitigating the impacts that data center applications might pose,” Jaggi said.
Council member Mara Berry (Ward 4) noted common concerns about data centers are the potentially large usage of both water and electricity at the Nov. 24 council meeting. She asked if, during a data center application, a business would be able to note how much water, electricity and noise disturbance would be required.
“They would be able to provide that information and also give us the ability to check in with the utility provider if we felt the need to determine if there is capacity even though we don’t regulate that directly,” Jaggi said. “But that’s the information we can obtain.”
However, Jaggi said the importance of data centers should not be underestimated, and that they are the backbone of many new emerging technologies.
“They provide data power or data storage, and they also power AI,” Jaggi said. “A lot of the growth we’re seeing now is that you need these data centers to power the artificial intelligence places we’re seeing all over. They also have the ability to mine crypto currency.”
Jaggi noted that there is a wide range of data center sizes. The facility that had been proposed, then withdrawn, in St. Charles was a 400-acre site referred to as a hyperscale center.
“I don’t know if we have the land for something like that in Creve Coeur,” he said. “But we certainly have some vacant properties in our L.I. (Light Industrial) area that could potentially serve one.”
Council member Drew Newman (Ward 3) said at the Nov. 24 council meeting that as someone who works in tech, he appreciates the need for data centers, but said he “would be hesitant if it was to support crypto currency.
“I think that’s a tremendous waste of resources,” he said.
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