Before they adjourned from their meeting on April 14, members of the Hutchinson Planning Commission spoke about the need for better data center zoning regulations. Commissioner Denice Gilliland was the first to bring up the subject, mentioning the joint Reno County, Hutchinson and South Hutchinson task force and saying that it should be on everyone’s agenda. No member of the Hutchinson Planning Commission was asked to be a part of the task force. Commission Chair Elaine Carter asked Associate Planner Paul Schiffelbein if the city had been working on tightening its zoning regulations around data centers and battery energy storage systems (BESS). Schiffelbein said they had been after the latest city council meeting on April 7. Schiffelbein said they’re specifically looking to establish better zoning rules around large-scale utilities, which would be the classification data centers and BESS fall under.
Read more: The Hutchinson Tribune
