Calgary councillors seek pause on large data-centre rezoning applications

Calgary councillors and Mayor Jeromy Farkas are seeking a temporary pause on new rezoning applications for large-scale data centres while the Canadian city studies their infrastructure impacts and develops land-use rules, Global News reported on 28 October. The proposal could affect where future projects are allowed, but it has not yet been adopted.

Ward 2 Coun. Jennifer Wyness brought the motion, co-signed by councillors Raj Dhaliwal, Andrew Yule and John Pantazopoulos and by Farkas. According to Global News, it is due for technical review at the city's executive committee next week. The requested moratorium applies to new rezoning applications related to large-scale facilities.

What Calgary's proposed data-centre rules would cover

Dhaliwal told Global News that councillors need clear processes and safeguards, starting with a land-use district. Wyness said a pause would give the city time to examine the issue and establish a more equitable basis for decisions. The motion distinguishes smaller facilities from hyperscale campuses, which it describes as more resource-intensive and potentially significant for surrounding communities.

What happens to the Redstone-area application

A separate data-centre rezoning application is already under review for undeveloped land east of 52 Street NE and north of Redstone. Stantec and property-management company Walton Global submitted the application, which would permit large industrial buildings and power generation alongside natural areas and stormwater-retention ponds, according to Global News. It remains unclear whether the proposed pause would affect that application.

Dhaliwal, whose Ward 5 includes the site, told Global News that residents had asked what environmental assessments and technical studies would address noise and heat from the project. The questions show why the proposed rules matter to people near a site already being considered, even as the council has yet to decide whether to impose the pause.

Jobs and environmental concerns at another proposed site

A separate proposal in New Zealand illustrates the competing local interests around data-centre development. RNZ reported that a NZ$300 million plan would put a data-centre campus and wood-pellet factory on the former Winstone Pulp mill site in the central North Island. The two mills closed in 2024, displacing about 230 workers; Ruapehu Mayor Weston Kirton estimated the proposed development could create 60 to 100 jobs.

RNZ also reported that local iwi Ngāti Rangi opposed the pellet-factory developer's consent application over proposed wastewater-condensate discharges into the Whangaehu River. Kirton said employment and investment should proceed alongside protection of the river. That dispute concerns the New Zealand proposal, rather than Calgary's motion, but shows how potential economic gains can sit alongside site-specific environmental questions.