Minneapolis 推进首套数据中心分区规则：服务器空间上限砍至5万平方英尺，仅限市中心两区
位于明尼苏达州亨内平县的Minneapolis市，位于明尼苏达州 Hennepin 县的 Minneapolis 市消息：市规划委员会10月13日晚推进该市首套专门针对现代数据中心的分区条例草案，把新数据中心限定在市中心两区，并大幅下调规模上限。草案还须经市议会审议，市议会商务、住房与分区委员会定于11月6日审议、全会定于11月12日审议，而该市对部分新数据中心项目的临时暂停令将于11月21日到期。
现行分区框架并不单列数据中心，而是将其归入「通信交换设施」类别，可在多个分区内选址，且没有针对用电、冷却系统与备用发电机等运行特征的专门标准。草案将新设独立的数据中心分类：仅可在市中心 DT1、DT2 两区（合计占全市土地面积不足4%）经条件使用许可程序设立，申请须经规划委员会公开听证，决定可上诉至市议会；草案还禁止专为数据中心新建整栋建筑，原则上须利用既有建筑。市府官员在听证会上表示，市中心约800万平方英尺空间空置，约占其所指库存的三成。
规模方面，市府职员原提案允许最高17.5万平方英尺的服务器及相关设备空间（业内称 white space），规划委员 Jason Garcia 提出的修正案将其下调至5万平方英尺，降幅约71%；部分发言者主张再降至2.5万平方英尺。规划委员 Angela Conley 提出的另一项修正案引入叠加分区审查。设计规则还包括：服务器机房须距建筑外墙至少20英尺、距相邻住宅外墙至少100英尺，市中心区机房与机械设备不得设于一、二层，机械设备原则上须置于建筑内部或屋顶。
申请者还须披露预计用电与用水量、备用发电机信息并提交降噪计划，并提供与电力供应商协调的书面证明；但披露要求并不等同于对用电、用水的强制上限。听证会上有约40人发言，多数反对在市内设大型数据中心，关切集中在电力需求、用水与社区影响，也有人主张延长暂停令。市议会今年5月通过临时暂停令，5月21日生效、11月21日到期。规划委员会的推进只是立法程序中的建议步骤，草案经市议会通过后才成为法律。（GSM 据 MinneapoliMedia 对10月13日听证会的报道与市府分区材料）
Minneapolis Advances First Data Center Zoning Rules: Server Space Cap Cut to 50,000 Square Feet, Downtown Districts Only
Minneapolis, in Hennepin County, Minnesota: The City Planning Commission on the evening of October 13 advanced the city's first zoning ordinance drafted specifically for modern data centers, confining new facilities to two downtown districts and sharply cutting the size cap. The proposal still needs City Council action: the council's Business, Housing and Zoning Committee is scheduled to take it up on November 6 and the full council on November 12, while the city's temporary moratorium on certain new data center projects expires on November 21.
The current zoning framework does not separately classify data centers, instead generally treating them as communication exchanges that can be considered in numerous districts, with no standards addressing electricity consumption, cooling systems or backup generators. The draft would create a distinct data center classification: new facilities would be allowed only in downtown districts DT1 and DT2, which together account for less than 4 percent of the city's land area, and only through a conditional use permit with a public hearing before the Planning Commission, whose decisions could be appealed to the City Council. It would also prohibit constructing an entirely new building solely for a data center, generally requiring reuse of existing buildings. City officials told the hearing that roughly 8 million square feet of downtown space, about 30 percent of the inventory cited, was vacant.
On size, city staff had proposed allowing up to 175,000 square feet of server and related equipment space, known in the industry as white space. An amendment by Planning Commissioner Jason Garcia cut that maximum to 50,000 square feet, a reduction of about 71 percent; some speakers urged a still lower ceiling of 25,000 square feet. Another amendment, by Planning Commissioner Angela Conley, introduced overlay zoning review. Design rules in the draft would require server rooms to sit at least 20 feet from exterior building walls and at least 100 feet from the exterior walls of neighboring homes, bar server rooms and mechanical equipment from the first and second floors in the downtown districts, and generally require mechanical equipment to be inside the building or on the roof.
Applicants would also have to disclose expected electricity and water use, provide information about backup generators, submit noise-reduction plans and show written evidence of coordination with their electricity provider, though the disclosure duties are not enforceable caps on consumption. Roughly 40 people addressed the commission, most opposing large-scale data centers in the city, raising electricity demand, water use and neighborhood impacts, and some urged extending the moratorium instead. The City Council adopted the temporary moratorium in May; it took effect May 21 and expires November 21. The Planning Commission's action is a recommendation in the legislative process, and the zoning changes become law only if the City Council adopts them. (GSM, based on MinneapoliMedia's report of the October 13 hearing and city zoning materials)
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图片来源：图：从 Wells Fargo 中心望向 Minneapolis 市中心与东北区，密西西比河穿城而过；拟议规则把新数据中心限定在市中心两区。摄影：Tony Webster，CC BY-SA 2.0，来源：Wikimedia Commons。Photo: Downtown and Northeast Minneapolis across the Mississippi River, seen from the Wells Fargo Center; proposed rules would confine new data centers to two downtown districts. By Tony Webster, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
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