During Monday evening’s meeting, the Urbana Planning Commission is recommending that the city remove recent zoning changes that could allow data centers to be built in parts of Urbana zoned for light industrial use.
The commission voted unanimously to send the issue back to the Urbana City Council with a recommendation to reverse the changes approved last year.
Those zoning updates added new uses connected to computer servers, web hosting, and data processing — opening the door for possible data center developments in the future.
City leaders have recently raised concerns about the possible impact large data center projects could have on the community.
Much of the discussion has focused on land south of the Champaign County Administration Building near U.S. Route 68 and Ohio Route 55.
Earlier this month, the Urbana City Council began the process of reviewing and possibly removing the zoning changes.
Councilwoman Amy Jumper introduced the proposal, saying she wanted the zoning rules returned to the way they were before the changes were approved.
Under city rules, the Planning Commission had to review the proposal before council could take final action.
City officials declined to comment on the decision.
The Planning Commission’s unanimous recommendation now sends the matter back to Urbana City Council for a final decision.
Council is expected to consider the recommendation during its next regular meeting Tuesday, May 19.
