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Regbase

The Data Center Divide

City of Milwaukee

This restriction takes precedence while in effect. The rating below excludes temporary restrictions.

Pro-Data Center Policies

Milwaukee’s enacted measure temporarily blocks new data centers and expansions for up to a year or until zoning rules are adopted; existing centers may continue operating, and planned development districts are exempt.

Rating from Wisconsin statewide as there are no scored current or future laws outside temporary restrictions for City of Milwaukee.

current law · City of Milwaukee
Creates a temporary pause on new data centers and expansions of existing facilities to allow Milwaukee to address potential energy, water, environmental, public-health, safety, and welfare impacts while developing zoning regulations for this land use.City of Milwaukee File 251924 (2026)

What this means

The measure would block new data centers and expansions for up to one year, or until the zoning code regulates them, making development substantially harder in the short term (prohibits establishment of new data centers or enlargement of existing data centers). It would not stop existing data centers from operating, and planned development districts are exempt.

Timing

Ends
the lesser of 1 year after passage, or until the zoning code is amended to regulate data centers

The moratorium prohibits establishing new data centers or enlarging existing ones during the effective period. The stated exception is for planned development districts under s. 295-907.

People behind it

  • Explicitly identified as a sponsor of the ordinance and requested unanimous sponsorship.

  • Explicitly identified as a sponsor of the ordinance.

  • Explicitly identified as a sponsor of the ordinance.

Show 4 more peopleShow fewer people

  • Explicitly identified as a sponsor of the ordinance.

  • Listed as the sponsoring body for the ordinance.

  • Added as a co-sponsor and moved substitution of the file with Proposed Substitute A.

  • Added as a co-sponsor of the ordinance.

Restrictions & requirementsHide restrictions & requirements5

  • Establishing a new data center or enlarging an existing data center is prohibited during the ordinance’s effective period.

  • City departments, boards, commissions, agencies, and officers may not approve applications or requests to establish, construct, enlarge, expand, convert, or occupy a data center, including permit, zoning, site-plan, occupancy, and similar requests.

  • The prohibition applies regardless of how a facility is described in application materials when its principal use meets the ordinance’s definition of a data center.

  • The restrictions do not apply to planned development districts under section 295-907.

  • The restrictions last for the lesser of one year after passage or until the zoning code is amended to regulate data centers.

Benefits & exceptionsHide benefits & exceptions3

  • The prohibition does not apply to data centers located in planned development districts under section 295-907, allowing those projects to proceed subject to the applicable planned-development-district requirements.

  • The ordinance excludes a computer server room and a facility serving another principal use on the same premises from the definition of “data center,” so those facilities are not subject to the temporary prohibition.

  • The prohibition is temporary: it ends after the lesser of one year after passage or the date the zoning code is amended to regulate data centers, allowing development to resume afterward unless another restriction applies.

Sources

pending · City of Milwaukee
Would create a new “data center” land-use category and establish related definitions and parking requirements.City of Milwaukee File 260142 (2026)

What this means

The proposal would allow data centers only in three industrial districts, with mid-sized projects requiring special approval and centers over 60,000 square feet prohibited. Those limits would make building or expanding data centers substantially harder, although smaller projects could still proceed in the allowed districts.

People behind it

  • Bill sponsor

  • Bill sponsor

  • Bill sponsor

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  • Bill sponsor

  • Bill sponsor

  • Bill sponsor

  • Bill sponsor

  • Bill sponsor

Restrictions & requirementsHide restrictions & requirements5

  • Data centers are prohibited in all zoning districts except Industrial-Light 1 (IL1), Industrial-Light 2 (IL2), and Industrial-Heavy (IH) districts.

  • In IL1, IL2, and IH districts, data centers of 20,000 square feet or less are allowed only as a limited use and are subject to cooling-system restrictions.

  • In IL1, IL2, and IH districts, data centers larger than 20,000 square feet but no larger than 60,000 square feet require special-use approval and submission of specified information to the Board of Zoning Appeals.

  • Data centers larger than 60,000 square feet are prohibited, including in the IL1, IL2, and IH districts.

  • The measure establishes specific parking requirements for data centers.

Benefits & exceptionsHide benefits & exceptions3

  • Creates a specific zoning classification for “data center,” providing a defined approval pathway rather than treating the use as general office or substation/distribution equipment.

  • Allows data centers of 20,000 square feet or less as a limited use in the Industrial-Light 1, Industrial-Light 2, and Industrial-Heavy zoning districts, subject to cooling-system restrictions.

  • Allows data centers larger than 20,000 square feet but no larger than 60,000 square feet to seek approval as a special use in the Industrial-Light 1, Industrial-Light 2, and Industrial-Heavy zoning districts, subject to submission of specified information to the Board of Zoning Appeals and cooling-system restrictions.

Sources

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