The adopted 2025 zoning amendment prohibits data centers in all four zoning districts and imposes a moratorium on applications for or construction of new data centers from September 30, 2025, through June 20, 2026 (moratorium until June 20, 2026).

The separate February 2026 draft would require Planning Board site plan review for micro data centers of 150 square feet or less in every district; small data centers over 150 and up to 5,000 square feet would require a Planning Board special permit in RR and FC districts and be prohibited in TC and LW districts. The Selectboard minutes later say the related warrant article was removed from the May 2026 warrant, so these draft controls were not thereby adopted (draft use table).

The February 2026 draft would prohibit data centers larger than 5,000 square feet, counting principal and accessory structures (over 5,000 square feet).

The draft would require a data-center lot of at least 90,000 square feet, 75-foot front, side, and rear setbacks, the district’s required public-way frontage, and compliance with the district’s height limit (minimum setbacks).

The draft would bar onsite groundwater or surface-water withdrawals for cooling; cooling liquids that pose a risk to groundwater or surface water if released; PFAS-containing refrigerants or heat-transfer liquids; and cooling that causes harmful warming at the property line (cooling restrictions).

The draft would prohibit diesel- and gasoline-powered backup or emergency generators and require other generator systems to meet applicable codes and noise and air-quality restrictions (diesel- and gasoline-powered generators are prohibited).

The draft would prohibit NMC batteries, cap data-center electrical storage at the lower of the Department of Energy Resources Tier 1 level or 250 kWh, and impose additional conditions on lithium-ion batteries, including separate containment and, for external systems, a 100-foot separation from drinking-water sources and listed water features (storage capacity limit).

The draft would bar data centers on defined environmentally important land, including permanently protected land, mapped core habitat and critical natural landscapes, specified habitat areas, and MESA priority habitat (shall not be located on Land of Environmental Importance).

The draft would prohibit specified ground alterations, driveways, drainage facilities, and integral equipment within 100 feet of wetlands or hydrologic features and 200 feet of covered streams, subject to the stated wetlands requirements (100 feet of any wetlands).

The draft would prohibit locating data centers, access driveways, or associated drainage infrastructure on original grades steeper than 15%, restrict clearing and grading, and require stormwater controls intended to prevent significant runoff changes and contaminated runoff (grades in excess of 15% is prohibited).

The draft would require applicable local, state, and federal approvals before construction, along with compliance with building, fire, and electrical codes and professionally prepared and signed plans (shall not go into construction until all).

The draft would require noise compliance during construction and operation, a professional noise assessment, and a noise mitigation and monitoring plan; the Planning Board could also require an additional noise assessment at the applicant’s expense (Noise Assessment).

The draft would limit construction and maintenance to Monday through Friday, between 7:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m., except for a public-safety or facility-integrity emergency after notification to designated Town officials (Monday to Friday).

The draft would require compliance with the Town’s lighting bylaw, limit signage to specified identification and warning signs or signs allowed under the existing sign rules, and require measures to minimize visual impacts and maintain screening vegetation (comply with the requirements laid out in Section 8.12).

The draft would require emergency-response information and a written plan approved by the Fire Chief, including firefighting and heat-suppression resources and containment of resulting runoff; PFAS-containing firefighting or heat-suppression agents would be prohibited unless the Planning Board waives that restriction (unless waived by the Planning Board).

The draft would require application materials including site plans, proof of site control and permitting compliance, hazardous-material and PFAS documents, operation and maintenance plans, and a hydrology report covering drinking-water sources and recharge areas on the site and within 400 feet of its property lines (Hydrology Report).

The draft would require liability insurance and financial surety accessible to the Town for removal and remediation costs, capped at 125% of the estimated removal cost; it also allows an environmental monitor during construction at the applicant’s or owner’s expense (125 percent of the cost of removal).

The draft would require a bond if construction access uses a gravel or unpaved Town road, sufficient to fund maintenance, repair, and restoration of the road and associated drainage facilities (post a bond sufficient to fund).

The draft would require removal of use-specific systems and infrastructure when a data center ceases functioning as permitted, and would treat two years without intended operation as abandonment unless the Planning Board authorizes otherwise; after notice, the owner generally would have 90 days to remove an abandoned facility, with Town removal at the owner’s expense if the owner does not comply (abandoned if it is not operated).

A moratorium adopted at the September 30, 2025 Special Town Meeting prohibited applications for or construction of new data centers until June 20, 2026.

The moratorium required approval by a two-thirds vote at Town Meeting.

Under the proposed replacement zoning amendment, data centers would be added to the industrial-use table, with micro data centers requiring site-plan review in all zoning districts and small data centers requiring a special permit in the RR and FC districts while being prohibited in the TC and LW districts.

The proposed amendment limits micro data centers to 150 square feet or less and small data centers to more than 150 square feet but no more than 5,000 square feet, including principal and accessory structures; data centers over 5,000 square feet would be prohibited.

The proposed amendment applies to both newly constructed and modified data centers.

The Planning Board may waive or modify site-plan review or special-permit requirements only upon a written request, required findings, and the same majority vote required for the underlying permit; a waiver cannot eliminate the requirement to satisfy applicable local, state, and federal requirements.

Data centers may not withdraw onsite groundwater or surface water for cooling.

Data centers may not use toxic or hazardous cooling liquids in quantities that could risk groundwater or surface water if released, and may not use PFAS-containing refrigerants or heat-transfer liquids.

A data center may not cause the air temperature at the property line to be significantly warmer than anticipated average ambient temperature, or warmer in a way that creates negative impacts for abutters or the natural environment.

Diesel- and gasoline-powered backup or emergency generators are prohibited.

Backup generators using other fuels, such as propane or natural gas, must comply with applicable air-quality restrictions, while all backup systems must comply with Massachusetts fire, wiring, and other relevant regulations and local noise limits.

Lithium nickel manganese cobalt oxide batteries are prohibited; lithium-ion batteries, if used, must be housed in a separate self-contained space designed for firefighting and heat suppression consistent with NFPA 855 and other applicable codes.

External battery storage may be subject to a Planning Board buffer larger than NFPA 855 requires and must be at least 100 feet from drinking-water sources, streams, lakes, ponds, wetlands, or similar water bodies.

Electrical storage for a data center may not exceed the Department of Energy Resources Tier 1 level or 250 kWh, whichever is less.

Construction and operation must comply with applicable local, state, and federal requirements, including wetlands, environmental-review, forest-cutting, endangered-species, and historic-preservation requirements; construction cannot begin until required approvals and documentation are submitted to the Planning Board.

Data-center buildings, fixtures, energy storage, and backup systems must comply with the Massachusetts State Building Code, Fire Code, and Electrical Code, and plans and maps must be prepared and signed by a Massachusetts-licensed professional civil engineer.

Each data-center lot must contain at least 90,000 square feet, with minimum setbacks of 75 feet from the front street and 75 feet from side and rear property lines.

Data centers must comply with applicable district height and frontage requirements, and total floor area may not exceed 5,000 square feet.

Data centers may not be located on designated land of environmental importance, including permanently protected land, mapped core habitat, critical natural landscapes, certain ecological-integrity areas, or MESA priority habitat.

Ground alterations, drainage facilities, driveways, and other integral equipment are prohibited within 100 feet of wetlands or hydrologic features and within 200 feet of streams under Conservation Commission jurisdiction, subject to the Shutesbury Wetlands Bylaw and Regulations.

Data centers may not be located on original, pre-development grades exceeding 15 percent, and clearing, grading, concrete, and other impervious materials must be limited or minimized.

Stormwater systems must prevent significant increases in runoff volume or frequency, avoid significant changes to drainage patterns, account for projected extreme precipitation, and prevent contaminated runoff from entering onsite or adjacent drinking-water sources.

Construction and operation must comply with Massachusetts DEP noise limits and the Shutesbury Excessive Noise bylaw; the Planning Board may require a noise assessment at the applicant's expense, and the application must include projected noise levels, mitigation measures, and monitoring plans.

Construction and maintenance activities are limited to Monday through Friday and may not occur from 5:00 p.m. to 7:00 a.m., except for emergencies affecting public safety or installation integrity after notifying designated Town officials.

Owners must minimize visual impacts, preserve existing vegetation unless removal is necessary for operation, use native vegetation where possible, avoid listed exotic plants, and install a Planning Board-required vegetative screen that may be 30 feet deep.

Owners must provide signage identifying the data-center owner and a 24-hour contact number, while other signage must comply with the zoning bylaw.

Owners must provide project, electrical, site, and other requested information to emergency officials and obtain approval of a written emergency-response plan addressing firefighting, heat suppression, accessible resources, and containment of suppression runoff.

PFAS-containing firefighting or heat-suppression agents are prohibited, and applications must include documentation stating that PFAS will not be used onsite for cooling or fire suppression, subject to the February 13 draft's proposed exception allowing a Planning Board waiver.

Applications must include detailed site plans, engineered drawings, electrical diagrams, site-control documentation, proof of liability insurance, proof of regulatory compliance, hazardous-material handling plans, and operation and maintenance plans.

Applicants must provide financial security, such as an escrow account or bond, to cover removal or site remediation if the Town must act; the required amount may not exceed 125 percent of the estimated removal and related compliance costs and must account for inflation.

The proposed amendment requires a hydrology report from a qualified professional addressing drinking-water sources and recharge areas onsite and within 400 feet of the property's boundaries.

Owners must maintain the facility, vegetation, security systems, lighting, and access driveways at their own expense, with site access maintained to a standard acceptable to the Fire Chief and Emergency Management Director.

When operations are discontinued, the owner must remove use-specific structures, systems, external above-ground electrical and data lines, heat-transfer systems, security barriers, lighting, and solid or hazardous waste, with site restoration where required.

A data center is considered abandoned after two years without operating as intended unless the Planning Board authorizes otherwise, or if it is designated a safety hazard; after written notice, the owner generally has 90 days to remove it and 30 days to respond.

If an owner fails to remove an abandoned or discontinued data center, the Town may enter the property, remove the facility, and charge the owner, drawing on the required financial surety.

The use table authorizes micro data centers, up to 150 square feet including principal and accessory structures, in all four zoning districts through the listed SPR-P review process.

The use table authorizes small data centers, over 150 and up to 5,000 square feet including principal and accessory structures, in the RR and FC districts through the listed SP-P review process; they are not allowed in the TC or LW districts.

An applicant may request that the Planning Board waive or modify site-plan-review or special-permit requirements when special site circumstances or an alternative approach make the requirement unnecessary, provided the waiver does not conflict with the bylaw’s public purposes or the required compliance with applicable local, state, and federal requirements.

The bylaw permits the Planning Board to review and approve backup-power, electrical-storage, and UPS technologies that were not anticipated in the bylaw.

Utility, electrical, backup-power, and data connections may be installed above ground when required by a utility or vendor, or when burying them would cause excessive disruption to the site, soils, or water systems.

For discontinued operations, the Planning Board may allow landscaping or designated below-grade foundations and electric lines to remain when doing so minimizes erosion or disruption to vegetation.

The bylaw provides that, if it conflicts with another town bylaw, its provisions supersede the conflicting town-bylaw provisions.