# Plan Commission: Meeting of September 29, 2026

The City of Madison Plan Commission met on September 29, 2026, for discussion and information items; no procurement activity, spending decisions, contract awards, or budget actions were identified. Staff presented a proposed data-center zoning framework following the city’s moratorium: small, medium, and large facilities would be defined by building area, with large facilities capped at 100,000 square feet. The draft would treat data centers as permitted uses in designated districts and use supplemental rules to address ground-floor placement, concentration, noise mitigation, and a proposed 300-foot buffer for large facilities near residential and open-space uses. Commissioners and public speakers discussed the size cap, possible conditional-use exceptions, noise and vibration, infrastructure impacts, and the need to distinguish data centers from business server rooms. Staff plans further review and public input before a zoning ordinance is introduced, with council action anticipated by January 12, 2027, ahead of the moratorium’s January 24 expiration.

Staff also reviewed implementation of Wisconsin 2025 Act 173, which will require comprehensive plans to specify residential growth areas and density ranges and generally require approval of consistent residential rezonings within 90 days; the act takes effect January 1, 2028. The commission received updates on intergovernmental boundary agreements, including the pending April Hills annexation question, and on the Neighborhood Indicators Project and its public data tools. These were informational discussions, with no related spending or procurement actions.

**Jurisdictions:** sled
**Industries:** Information Technology, Construction & Infrastructure
**Topics:** Digital Infrastructure, Regulatory Compliance
**Published:** September 29, 2026

### Sources
- [Plan Commission: Meeting of September 29, 2026](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CVIGtAVfFkU) - City of Madison Wisconsin