Hyperscale data-center zoning reclassifications, provisions, permits, or conditions generally may not be accepted before January 1, 2027. The exception is one 300,000-square-foot facility identified as the Willowbend Capital, LLC project in Resolution No. 16,672.

Accessory data centers are limited to facilities over 10,000 and up to 25,000 gross square feet or drawing over 5 and up to 15 megawatts, and major data centers are limited to facilities over 25,000 and up to 250,000 square feet or drawing over 15 and up to 75 megawatts. A facility otherwise qualifying as accessory becomes major if it requires a substation.

Hyperscale classification applies to a data center over 250,000 gross square feet, drawing over 75 megawatts, or developed across multiple principal buildings under common ownership or control on one parcel.

Open-loop and once-through cooling systems are prohibited, as are evaporative-only systems that use potable water as the primary cooling medium.

Using on-site or off-site groundwater wells as the primary cooling-water source is prohibited, subject to limited exceptions for landscape irrigation, fire suppression, or closed-loop-system makeup water.

Major and hyperscale applications must include a water-utilization report certified by an Arkansas-licensed professional engineer, covering water intake, sources, discharges, cooling design, water-use effectiveness, and stormwater compliance.

Data-center development must achieve a design water-use effectiveness of no more than 0.5 liters per kilowatt-hour at full load and must report actual operating performance annually.

Cooling-water discharges must satisfy Little Rock Water Reclamation Authority requirements, and the authority retains discretion to accept or reject the discharge. Chemically treated cooling water may not be discharged to surface waters or stormwater systems.

All diesel backup generators must meet EPA Tier 4 or equivalent emissions standards.

Routine, non-emergency generator testing is restricted to Monday through Friday from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., excluding federal and state holidays.

Hyperscale operators must give certified-mail notice at least 24 hours before scheduled generator testing to property owners within 1,000 feet and maintain a public webpage listing testing windows.

Operators must submit annual generator-testing and emissions reports, and on-site fuel storage must comply with NFPA 30, NFPA 110, and applicable requirements. A fuel-handling plan and spill-response plan must also be filed with the fire department.

Each application must include a utility Will Serve Letter addressing available capacity, required transmission, generation, or substation upgrades, and applicable approved utility agreements or tariffs for renewable-energy commitments.

For projects with peak demand over 100 megawatts, the utility must provide notice of applicable Arkansas Public Service Commission filings concerning generation, transmission, distribution facilities, or customer rates and service terms.

Data centers must comply with property-line noise limits. The limits vary by adjacent land use and time: residential property is limited to 60 dBA daytime and 50 dBA nighttime; commercial or office property to 65 and 60 dBA; industrial property to 70 and 65 dBA; and 24-hour C-weighted limits also apply.

Hyperscale projects require a pre-application acoustical study and a post-construction verification study within 90 days of beginning operation, repeated annually. Major and hyperscale facilities must also maintain permanent, continuously logging acoustic monitoring accessible to the City.

If noise monitoring or verification finds a violation, the operator must submit a corrective-action plan within 30 days and achieve compliance within 180 days.

Off-street parking requirements for data centers are set at 50 percent of the otherwise applicable Article VIII requirement.

Mechanical equipment and related infrastructure must be fully screened from grade-level view at the property line, with low-reflective screening and fencing located behind the required landscape buffer.

Major and hyperscale facilities must provide a landscape buffer of at least 100 feet along residentially zoned or used property, including three staggered evergreen rows and supplemental deciduous trees. A buffer of at least 50 feet is required along commercially zoned property.

Data-center buildings and related infrastructure must be separated from residentially zoned or used property by at least 900 feet for hyperscale facilities, 250 feet for major facilities, and 100 feet for accessory facilities.

Operators must designate a community-contact person, maintain a public webpage with contact information and testing windows, publish the latest annual noise report, and submit annual reports covering noise, generator emissions, water and power-use effectiveness, complaints, and responses.

The zoning amendments require accessory data centers to obtain conditional-use approval in specified commercial districts, while major data centers are conditional uses in specified industrial districts; only the I-3 heavy-industrial district expressly lists accessory, major, and hyperscale data centers as permitted uses.

The Board communication identifies special-use-permit requirements for all major data-center developments, along with public notice, community meetings, environmental review, renewable-energy and energy-efficiency requirements, community-benefits agreements for large facilities, and decommissioning and financial-assurance requirements.

The Board communication provides for City inspections, enforcement mechanisms, appeals, and permit revocation for noncompliance.

Permit-review and compliance costs may be imposed through application fees, consultant reimbursement, engineering review, environmental assessments, inspections, and compliance-monitoring cost-recovery mechanisms.

The ordinance creates zoning pathways for data centers: accessory data centers are listed as conditional uses in some districts, accessory data centers are permitted uses and major data centers are conditional uses in others, and accessory, major, and hyperscale data centers are permitted uses in the I-3 heavy-industrial district. Data center, accessory, major, hyperscale

Off-street parking for data centers is reduced to 50 percent of the requirement otherwise applicable under the zoning code. fifty (50) percent

The moratorium ordinance protects one specifically identified 300,000-square-foot Willowbend Capital, LLC facility from the delay on hyperscale-data-center applications. The City may continue accepting the required zoning classifications, permits, and conditions for that project before January 1, 2027. one 300,000 square foot project

For hyperscale data centers other than the protected Willowbend project, the moratorium does not prevent steps or permits issued by governments other than Little Rock before January 1, 2027, although the City's new zoning classification cannot be used for those projects during the moratorium. Nothing in this provision precludes steps, or permits, issued by governments other than the City