Data centers are permitted only in the M-2 Heavy Industrial district, limiting where they may be built.

Structures and improvements must be set back at least 50 feet, and landscape buffers are required along adjacent property lines.

The adopted amendment sets a 300-foot buffer from residential uses or districts and the other listed sensitive uses, including churches, schools, parks, daycares, and lodging establishments.

A photometric diagram is required, and maintained vertical lighting at an adjoining residential property line may not exceed 0.5 footcandles at three feet above grade; lighting must also meet the city’s outdoor-lighting rules.

Applicants must submit a utility site plan.

Data centers must be contained within a primary structure and comply with nonresidential building-design requirements.

Outdoor generators require a screening wall, and generator testing is limited to 10 a.m.–5 p.m., Monday through Friday.

Noise from facility infrastructure may not exceed 80 dBC and dBA at data-center property lines or 45 dBC and dBA within 50 feet of the property line of the listed sensitive uses. Applicants must provide projected noise levels and generator details, and conduct a noise test before improvements are made.

After completion, the permit holder must submit a sound-measurement affidavit with specified qualifications, equipment and calibration records, measurement locations, results, timing, and a certification that equipment will remain within noise limits. The city may require independent or additional testing at the developer’s expense.

Applicants must obtain utility-provider service-availability letters and disclose expected water use and maximum power demand. If the project requires otherwise-unneeded utility upgrades, the developer or end user must pay for them and document that the costs will not be passed on to other customers.

Applicants must map required new or upgraded substations and new power lines; substations must be on site or adjacent to the development. A site plan must also identify the water source.

The measure restricts certain foreign adversaries from developing data centers in Joplin, with the determination made case by case by the U.S. Department of State.

Applicants must assess air-pollution impacts from facility operations, identify specified emissions sources, and describe best management practices; emissions must comply with the cited federal and Missouri standards.

The city may require independent third-party testing, studies, or analysis at the developer’s expense, including additional operational-use assessments as determined by the Director, subject to the stated protection for proprietary information or intellectual property.

Data centers must use a closed-loop cooling system or another system that reduces water use.

Data centers must be designed and operated with a cool roof.

Data centers must achieve and maintain LEED or a similar green-building-program standard for the life of occupancy.

Exterior and rooftop cooling equipment and other data-center accessory uses or structures must be enclosed or screened with opaque barriers that obstruct views and reduce noise and vibration.

Applicants must submit the expected construction and operation timeline and the estimated number of full-time-equivalent jobs.

Applicants must submit a wastewater management or treatment plan; operational wastewater requires a pollutant scan, must comply with Chapter 118, and the data center requires a city permit under the code’s unpermitted-uses category.

Energy storage must comply with the specified NFPA 855 and NFPA 75 standards, as referenced in the 2024 International Fire Code or its latest edition, and applicants must provide this information with the application.

Backup generators must be Tier IV compliant or certified, or Tier II with selective catalytic reduction; natural-gas turbines must use selective catalytic reduction with ammonia as the reducing agent.

The ordinance takes effect beginning August 25, 2026.

Data centers are permitted in the M-2 (Heavy Industrial) district. Permitting Data Centers in District M-2

The Council’s adopted amendment removed the special use permit process and set the buffer at 300 feet, rather than the 600 feet shown in the bill text. 300-foot buffer and removal of the special use permit process

Local utility providers must confirm capacity and commitment to serve the proposed data center, and required substations must be on site or adjacent to the development. The developer or end user must pay for upgrades needed specifically to serve the project. Utility capacity and substation requirements