At the Tuesday, March 24 City Council meeting, the Aurora City Council approved new, first-of-its-kind regulations intended to safeguard residents and the environment from future data center development.
The nearly five-hour meeting included 17 speakers. Most spoke out against data centers.
The approval of the new ordinances came as the City’s 180-day temporary moratorium on new data center facilities was set to expire March 23. Prior to the vote, the City’s Development Services Department opted to invoke a one-time, 30-day extension on the moratorium in order to provide the City Council with more time to deliberate on the ordinances, if needed.
The City’s moratorium, enacted September 25, 2025, was designed to provide City staff with the opportunity to research national best practices and safeguards implemented through zoning ordinances and building codes, study the environmental, stormwater, and utility impacts of data centers, assess lasting fiscal impacts, develop potential zoning or performance standards, and create a definition for data centers in the City’s Zoning Ordinance. The temporary pause helped staff generate clear rules surrounding data center development that protects residents and businesses, guides developers when proposing future projects, and ensures long-term community sustainability.
The new regulations include updates on zoning standards surrounding data centers throughout City limits, plus establishes a formal definition for data centers within the City’s Zoning Ordinance. The new ordinances state that should a data center express interest in coming to Aurora, the developer must enter a development agreement with the City to adhere to all regulations and performance standards. Developers must submit a baseline pre-development sound study, a noise modeling study, a water consumption and quality modeling report completed by a third-party engineer, and an energy consumption modeling report. Future data centers will also need to be designed to meet noise standards, vibration standards, energy usage standards, and water usage standards. Additionally, all new or expanded data centers will need to install and operate either on-site renewable energy generation techniques, or on-site resilience storage procedures. Data centers will also need to comply with strict biometric data privacy safeguards, including the prohibition of the sale or profit of biometric data and the issuance of an annual certificate of compliance from the City. And now, moving forward, all new data centers will require public notice and City Council approval, along with public reporting of water use, energy consumption, and noise.
“These innovative ordinances will help establish significant safeguards for our residents and the environment moving forward,” Mayor John Laesch said. “With these local regulations now in place, it’s time for the State of Illinois to follow suit and pass the Illinois POWER Act. This piece of common-sense legislation will assist Illinoisians who are suffering from high electricity bills, while helping to enhance quality of life for communities across the state.”
Currently, the City of Aurora has five data centers within City limits, and another five in development. Moving forward, the City is willing to work with prospective data center developers, encouraging responsible growth that balances economic development goals with a continued commitment to protecting residents and the environment.
“These new regulations are the result of months of work from City staff, who conducted extensive research and engaged the public to gather feedback on the future of data center development in Aurora,” director of Sustainability Alison Lindburg said. “We will continue to keep our residents’ needs front and center as we work with developers who are committed to meeting these standards.”
The new safeguards are considered the most robust throughout Illinois, and some of the most protective in the country. For more information on these new ordinances and the process surrounding their passage, visit www.aurora.il.us/DataCenters.
— City of Aurora government