# Planning & Zoning   - 11/03/26 12:00 pm

The City of Marshalltown Planning & Zoning Commission met on November 3, 2026, to review a proposed amendment to Ordinance 15129 concerning data-center development review. Staff recommended replacing electrical-load thresholds with an 80-acre threshold, which could be verified from an application’s site area. Under the proposal, data centers under the threshold in the data-center overlay would receive administrative approval, while larger projects—and all data centers outside the overlay—would require a special use permit. Commissioners discussed lower acreage thresholds and whether multistory facilities should also trigger special review. A motion to set the threshold at 40 acres and include a multistory trigger initially passed, but procedural concerns were raised because the change had not been included in the public notice. The motion was then reconsidered and taken off the books; the public hearing proceeded on the originally noticed amendment, and the commission was preparing to consider it when the transcript ends. No final recommendation or vote on the original amendment is captured.

Public commenters raised concerns about using acreage as a measure of impact, suggested retaining electrical-load and other infrastructure thresholds, and called for additional safeguards such as community-benefit, emergency-response, and decommissioning plans. A Chamber of Commerce representative supported special-use review as an opportunity to consider nearby-neighbor impacts. No procurement, contract awards, spending decisions, or budget allocations were identified.

**Jurisdictions:** sled
**Industries:** Construction & Infrastructure, Information Technology
**Topics:** Physical Infrastructure
**Published:** November 03, 2026

### Sources
- [Planning & Zoning   - 11/03/26 12:00 pm](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YdGoheHSbOk) - City of Marshalltown