Scope
City of Milwaukee Common Council File 260142, a substitute ordinance relating to the building of data centers, is in committee. As analyzed on Legistar it would create a "data center" land use; prohibit data centers in all zoning districts except Industrial-Light (IL1 and IL2) and Industrial-Heavy (IH), where they would be a limited use subject to cooling-system restrictions; treat a data center of 20,000 square feet or less as a limited use, allow one of more than 20,000 and not more than 60,000 square feet only as a special use, and prohibit one of more than 60,000 square feet.
- Geographic scope
- City of Milwaukee, Wisconsin
- Jurisdiction
- Local
- Authority type
- Local government
- Issuing authority
- Milwaukee Common Council
Dates
- Adopted
- No adoption day is recorded
- Effective
- Not enacted
- Scheduled expiration
- None scheduled
- Ended
- Not recorded as ended
- Completion condition
- None stated
- Source document
- The source page states no document date
- Last checked
- 1 October 2026 (earlier than tracker date 5 October 2026; not an automatic status change)
Summary
A substitute ordinance before the Milwaukee Common Council, File 260142, would add data centers to the zoning code as a new land use, allow them only in light and heavy industrial districts, and set size tiers: a limited use up to 20,000 square feet, a special use from 20,000 to 60,000 square feet, and no data centers above 60,000 square feet. It was created on 12 May 2026 and remains in committee; it has not been adopted.
What this does not establish
- The ordinance is pending and has no effective date; two proposed substitutes (A and B) are attached on Legistar, so the final text may differ from the Substitute 1 analysis described here.
- Clerk "PUBLISHED" entries in the history are hearing notices, not adoption; the matter status is In Committee.
- The companion temporary pause, File 251924, is a separate record.
Unresolved questions
None recorded.
Relationships
Supersession means a later instrument replaces the earlier legal effect. Repeal links identify the repeal instrument and the measure it ends. A later implementation or related letter is not treated as a replacement unless the record says so.
- Related, not a replacement Milwaukee: proposed one-year pause on data center applications (File 251924) (Proposed)
Sources
https://milwaukee.legistar.com/LegislationDetail.aspx?ID=8029591&GUID=BA58FFA5-8CEA-40FE-9D6E-82E34851BB8D