City of Kaukauna to hold a Public Hearing on 17.25 Ordinance Amendment – Data Centers

The City of Kaukauna will hold a public hearing on Tuesday, January 20 at 7:00 PM in the Common Council Chambers (Municipal Services Building 144 W. 2nd St.) to hear from residents who wish to speak for or against amending Ordinance 17.25. The amendment would add “data centers” as a use that can be considered in industrial zoning areas, but only by special exception.

What is a special exception?

If a data center were to request to build in the City of Kaukauna, a special exception gives the Plan Commission and Common Council the ability to set additional conditions and safeguards that must be met, adding an extra layer of review. Under a special exception, the City would also be required to set a public hearing for any development requests made by potential data centers, meaning the process would be public. Without the special exception, businesses that fit the criteria for our industrial areas may be able to build without this extra review.

Have there been any requests by data centers?

There have not been any inquiries from data center companies. The public hearing is to discuss amending the ordinance to create the special exception.

What is the point of the upcoming public hearing?

We want to give the public the opportunity to express any thoughts or concerns they may have before the City votes on the amendment, but we also encourage people to reach out with questions or get more information about this amendment at any time. Questions can be directed to the Mayor’s Office at 920.766.6310.

There are many different kinds of data centers, and by updating our ordinances, it would give the Common Council the ability to thoroughly review the impacts of each request.

Learn more about our Municipal Code by visiting the Municipal Code page of our website. There you will find a button to view the Municipal Code and all of our ordinances. The full agenda for the Common Council Meeting on Tuesday, January 20 will be made available online by 4:30 PM Friday, January 16. All of our agendas and meeting minutes can be found here.