Aurora City Council votes against moratorium on new data centers, focuses on regulations

On Monday night, the Aurora City Council voted against putting a six-month moratorium on new data centers, but city leaders do want to see changes and new regulations for future construction of data centers. The city council passed a separate measure directing the city manager to develop new regulations over the next 35 days.

Aurora is home to the state's largest data center, and five more data centers are on the way.

"How can we make our sites more community-friendly? That's the kind of partnership that we should want in Aurora. Responsible businesses should not be afraid of responsible standards, and responsible government should not be afraid to set those standards," said Aurora City Councilmember Amy Wiles.

Previously, Wiles said data centers have significant impacts on water resources and power infrastructure where they're built.

Wiles said the vote is an ask to get things right, balancing community needs with business needs.

"A temporary pause allows us to learn from communities… to make sure we don't repeat their mistakes, and we learn from their successes. We have hundreds of acres out east, land intended for tech uses, far from homes, far from schools. That is far more appropriate and responsible placement for large data centers," said Wiles.