City Council - Regular Meeting

It's falling down, but nothing has changed You never lost it, oh, you still got your faith Light me up, let me see your fire Light me up, let me see your fire

Good morning, Birmingham. Today is June 9th, 2026. The time is now 940 AM, a call to order the regular meeting of the Birmingham City Council. Today's invocation will be led by Reverend Gwendolyn C. Webb, Pastor God's People United for a Better World in Birmingham. The Pledge of Allegiance will be led by Counselor Sonia Smith. If you're willing and able, please stand and join us.

Good morning, Pastor Webb. Good morning, Madam President. Good morning, Madam President and Madam Vice President. Oh God, I love saying madam, madam. To this outstanding council. Where's the mayor? Good morning, Mr. Mayor. With all of that said, if we could bow our heads for prayer, please. Dear Father, most gracious Father, Lord God, we come to you right now in the only way that we know how, with humble hearts and bowed heads and just plenty of thanksgiving. Dear Father, we've come this far by faith, leaning on none other but you, Lord. We still trust in your holy name. You never failed us, not yet. Now, dearly father, I'm asking a special blessing, please, upon the mayor of this outstanding city, upon the president and the vice and the president pro tem for this city and all of these outstanding council members. Bless the entire staff, dearly father, of the city of Birmingham. For earth has no sorrow that heaven cannot heal. Whatever the situation is, we know you'll take care of it and heal it. Whatever, dear Father, that we need, this and that, we put it all in your hands. For you'll handle it, and we know that's a fact. Now, dear Heavenly Father, continue to bless now, bless now. Give every individual that's here exactly what they need and want and desire. Now, Father, as we're about to close this prayer, continue to bless our children for a summertime now. Bless them and keep them safe from all hurt, harm, and danger. Now, dear Heavenly Father, bless our first responders in a special way. Bless our chief of police and our chief of the fire department. Now, God, as we're about to close this prayer, never closing from your presence, continue to keep us. Rock us. Love us. And Lord God, let us be attentive to your word. For it's in your name we pray. In the mighty name of Jesus. Amen.

Salute the flag.

with liberty and justice for all.

Thank you very much, Reverend Webb, for that inspirational prayer, and thank you, Councilor Smith, for leading us in the Pledge of Allegiance. Good morning, Madam Clerk. Good morning. If you'll please call the roll, thank you.

Yes, ma'am. Council Member Guy. Good morning. Good morning, Council Member O'Quinn.

Good morning.

Good morning, Council Member Smith.

Good morning.

Good morning. Council Member Smitherman.

Good morning.

Good morning. Council Member Vassa. Good morning. Good morning. Council Member Williams. Good morning. Good morning. Council Member Woods. Good morning. Good morning. Council President Pro Tem Tate.

Good morning.

Good morning. And Council President Alexander.

Good morning. Thank you very much. At this time, Councilors, the minutes are not ready from the meetings of March 3rd, 2026, through June 2nd, 2026. I've been informed that we do not have any communications from the mayor. Good morning, Mayor Woodfin. At this time, counselors will begin our consideration of the consent agenda. Before those items are read, I'd like to read this statement. All items designated as consent are considered to be routine and non-controversial and will be approved by one motion. No separate discussion of these items will be permitted unless a council member, the mayor, or citizen interested in a public hearing so request. If so, such items will revert to its normal place on the agenda order business. All matters of permanent operation, they're indicated with a capital P on the agenda, will be read. All other matters will be announced by reading the item numbers only. All public hearings will be announced. At this time, Madam Clerk, if you will give us the items that are being considered for consent.

Yes, ma'am. The consent agenda begins on page 2 with item number 3. Page 4, I'm sorry, page 3 with items 4, 5, 6, and 7. Page 4, items 8, 9, and 10. Page 5, items 11, 12, 13, and 14. Page 6, items 15 and 16. On item number 16, please note the following. On page 6, the very first property that ends with 01714, it has been requested to be withdrawn. And also, if you go over to page 12 of item number 16, You're going to go down almost towards the bottom. The last five numbers is 01867. That's going to be 116 Roebuck Drive. That item has also requested to be withdrawn. Then we'll go over to page 22. That's item 17. Page 23. We have items 18, 19, and 20. On item number 18, there's a correction made. It says in parentheses, Birmingham Botanical Gardens, and it should be BBS instead. So both places that you see Birmingham Botanical Gardens, it should be BBS. On page 24, we have items 21, 22, and 23. On item 23, that amount has been amended. It is going to be an amount not to exceed $56,000, and the amount designated from District 4 has been changed to $36,000. On page 25, we have items 24, 25, 26, and 27. On item number 25, that amount also has been changed. It's been amended. It should be an amount not to exceed $14,500 with the addition of funds from District 3 of $3,500. On item 27, That amount has also been amended. It'll be an amount not to exceed $15,000. With the addition of discretionary funds from District 3 and District 4, both for $5,000. Page 26, we have items 28, 29, and 30. Page 27, we have items 31, 32, and 34. Page 28, we have items 35, 36, 37, 38, and 39. Page 29, we have items 40, 41, 42, 43, and 44. PAGE 30 WE HAVE ITEMS 45, 46, 47, 48, AND 49. PAGE 31 WE HAVE ITEMS 50, 51, 52, 53, AND 54. Page 32, we have items 55, 56, 57, 58, and 59. Page 33, we have items 60, 61, 62, 63, and 64. Page 34, we have items 65, 66, 67. Page 35, items 68, 69, 70. Page 36, items 71, 72, 73, 74, 75, and 76. And that completes the consent agenda, and we do have an addendum item.

Thank you, Madam Clerk. And we do note that we have addendum item number 77. Counselors, are there any items that you'd like to have add or removed from the consent agenda? Counselor Quinn.

Thank you, Madam President. On page 24, I'd like to remove item 23 from the consent agenda, please. And I would... If they're without objection, I'd like to add item 77 to the consent agenda.

OK, thank you. That request is to remove item number 23 on page 24 from consent. The request is also to add item 77 to the consent agenda. Any other items, councillors? Any other items? We did have a request. Is there someone that has a question about item 62? Sir, did you have a question about item 62?

Yes, it's with regards to 444 First Street North.

OK, we'll bring that up when the item comes up. We'll have a counselor wants to remove that from request. Thank you.

Thank you.

So there's a request to remove item 62 from consent.

And that is on page 33.

All right. Counselors, can we entertain a motion and a second for the consent agenda?

So moved. Second.

Madam Clerk, we're ready for the vote.

OK. The vote has started. The vote should be up.

All right, thank you. The consent agenda is approved. Any items that were removed from consent that will be added back to the agenda and those items will be called up by their agenda item number. Madam Clerk, I'd like to ask if we go in this order as we consider items. Okay.

Yes, ma'am.

I would like to... Let's start with the first item that we removed from consent. Let me get back to my notes. Okay, we have item 23. If you'll call that one up first. It was removed from consent. Item 23? Yes, on page 24. Yes, ma'am.

Item 23. Item 23 is a resolution authorizing the mayor to execute an agreement with Jones Valley Teaching Farm, JVTF, under which JVTF shall provide community-based educational workshops and exhibits and presentations to families, that is children, parents, et cetera, using food as a foundation so young people lead create and grow a healthy future for themselves and their community for a term ending on June 30th, 2026 in an amount not to exceed, and it has been changed to $56,000. Said funds will come from districts three and four discretionary forms.

Motion. Second.

All right, thank you. Councilor Queen, you asked to sign and be removed from consent. I have a question. All right, thank you. There are no questions at this time. We're ready to vote.

Okay, the voting has started. All right, thank you.

Item 23 passes. Next item, Madam Clerk, if we could go to the next one.

Is it 62? Yes, thank you.

Item 62 on page 33.

Excuse me. Wait a minute.

We do have an appointment. Yes, ma'am.

That item, please. Item 33 is on page 27. A resolution appointing one member to the Birmingham Parks and Recreation Board with said term expiring October 8, 2026.

But this time I'll have our arts and culture chair, Councilor Smith.

Yes.

So this is a recommendation to appoint Demetri Carpenter to the Park and Recreation Board for term expiring October 8th, 2026. All right.

Thank you. Counselors, any questions? All right. We're ready for the vote.

All right, the vote has started.

All right, thank you very much. That item passes. Thank you, Councilor Smith, you and your committee for bringing this candidate to us, and we look forward for her service. Thank you. All right, Councilors, next item, I believe, is item 62 on page 33. Is that correct, Madam Clerk?

Item 62, again on page 33, it's a resolution fixing a special assessment in the amount of $6,685.60 against the property located at 444 First Street, North Birmingham, Alabama, 35204 for the cost incurred for the demolition of an unsafe building or structure.

All right, this is not a public hearing, but there is a request for this item. Administration, do you have any, excuse me, can I have a motion? Move the item. Sorry. Second. All right, thank you. Mayor Woodson.

Yes, ma'am, Madam President. We would like to withdraw the item.

All right, thank you. At this time, sir, that item has been withdrawn. Thank you very much. Any other items other than the first two items, Madam Clerk? No, ma'am, that's it. All right, thank you. At this time, I would like to ask councils if we would draw our attention to item number two.

item number two yes ma'am okay item number two on page two an ordinance to amend the zoning district map of the city of birmingham case number zac 2026-00002 to change zone district boundaries from I four landfill mining and timbering district to Q I one qualified light manufacturing district in order to construct a convenience store with a drive through filed by say, uh, I apologize. Uh, Sarah 10 L L C the property owner and Mike and Ahmed, but how D G I get, I apologize. THE APPLICANT FOR THE PROPERTY GENERALLY LOCATED AT 101 SARATON DRIVE NORTH AND SITUATED IN SECTION 15, ONE QUARTER, SECTION 1, TOWNSHIP 17, RANCH 3, WEST BIRMINGHAM, ALABAMA, 35207. AND THIS IS THE HEARING OF OUR INSTRUCTED PARTIES.

ALL RIGHT. THANK YOU. COUNCILOR, THIS IS AN ORDINANCE TO AMEND THE ZONING DISTRICT MAP OF THE CITY OF BIRMINGHAM to change the zone district boundaries, and in order to construct a convenience store with a drive-through. This is a public hearing, so I'll turn this over to Councilor Josh Vassa, Co-Chair of Planning and Zoning. Councilor Vassa.

Thank you, Madam President. Is staff on hand to comment on this?

Yes, sir.

Good morning. My name is Kim Spurl. I serve as the city zoning administrator in the Department of Planning, Engineering, and Permits. The item before you today is a rezoning request to change the zoning from I-4, which is our landfill, mining, and timbering district, to QI1, which is qualified light manufacturing. The property is located at 101 Saraton Drive in the Hooper City Neighborhood Association. The applicant is requesting this rezoning so they can construct a new convenience store that will have a quick service restaurant with a drive-thru. There will also be four fuel islands that will provide gas with a total of eight pumps. with one pump on each side. Their proposed hours of operation will be 5 a.m. to 10 p.m. seven days a week. And they plan to have approximately two to three employees at the location during business hours. The property to the north of this location is zone D3, single family residential. Property to the south and east is zoned QI1, which is qualified light manufacturing. And to the west is property zoned I-4, which is landfill mining and timbering. The city's adopted long-range land use plan does identify this site as light industrial. The I-1 district does allow for a convenience store subject to two conditions, that all pumps shall not be closer than 150 feet to any dwelling district and not closer than 15 feet to a right-of-way line. and any building shall be set back 25 feet from a dwelling district. The applicant does show parking over what the maximum is allowed and they do plan on using low impact development to offset the parking overage. The landscape plan will need to be more detailed when permits are applied for. They will have to have a landscape buffer shown along Daniel Payne Drive. And they will also have to screen the dumpster with vegetation. And they will have to provide foundation planting around the building. All permits and ordinances will apply for the city stormwater division. The Department of Transportation reviewed the site plan and their only comment was to request a left turn lane into the site and to provide an eight foot wide concrete side path along the extent of the property. This property is located in the North Birmingham framework plan area. The applicant attended the Hooper City Neighborhood Association meeting on March 12th of this year. The neighborhood did vote 15 to 0 to approve this rezoning request. The Zoning Advisory Committee met on March 17th of this year to review this request, and they voted 4 to 0 to recommend approval to the council. with one cue condition, and that cue condition is that the project engineer must notify the city engineer at least 48 hours prior to the start of construction to allow for city inspection, issuance of an adverse effects impact letter, and confirmation of the concrete glass. In addition, a signed maintenance agreement between the developer and the city is required to ensure proper maintenance and upkeep of the LID, including annual inspections. On March 24, 2026, the Planning and Zoning Committee reviewed this item, and they voted 4-0 to also recommend approval with the same queue conditions. This concludes the staff report for this case. The applicant's representative is present if you have any questions for him.

Thank you, Kim. Any questions from the council for the staff on this zoning case? All right, seeing none, the applicant is here. Feel free to give us just a very brief introduction sort of mention of your interest here today and what's before us, just very brief.

My name is Brian Presnell. I'm the civil engineer working with the developer on this project. Ms. Spurl did a wonderful job of just detailing what we plan to do, so I'm just happy to answer any questions you may have. Appreciate it.

Any questions from the council? All right, seeing none, thank you very much. This is a public hearing. Are there any comments from the public related to this zoning case? All right, seeing none, I hand it back over to you, Madam President.

Thank you, Councilor Vassa. At this time, Councilors, if there are no questions, we're ready for the vote.

The vote has started. Thank you.

All right, thank you. This time that item passes. Next item, Madam Clerk.

The next item is item number one, an ordinance amending the city of Birmingham zoning ordinance, title one, general provisions, ordinance number 15-133 as amended, filed by the Department of Planning, Engineering, and Permits. This is case number ZAC 2026-0000. and this is the hearing of our instrument parties.

All right, thank you. At this time, we will hold a public hearing and we'll hear from staff regarding this item. I do think it's important that we know we have a lot of people that are interested and want to discuss this item today. I do want to set the tone and be sure that we are clear on what this particular item that is before us. So, Madam City Attorney.

As a reminder, in this public meeting, we will not comment on matters which are not on the agenda or for which litigation is pending. Public comments or the City Council's discussion should be limited to items properly before the Council, as noted on the official meeting agenda. To preserve the City's legal position and to protect the integrity of the legal process, please limit comments to the items before us.

Thank you, Madam Attorney. At this time, I'll turn the meeting over to Councilor Vassa.

Thank you, Madam President. We will start, Mayor, with an update from the staff.

Yes, sir. Good morning, Madam President. Good morning, Mr. Chairman, as well as co-chairman, Dr. McQuinn. And good morning to all the councilors. Good to see everybody. Morning to the general public as well. Mr. Chairman and co-chairman, my comments are actually brief this morning. One, we want to make sure that you actually have a printed copy of the presentation today. The public will be able to see it here on the screen in a minute when professional staff begins. But I just wanted to make a note. My remaining comments are actually about the team. I want to thank the PEP team and staff. I want to thank the sustainability team and staff, as well as the Office of the City Attorney team and staff. They are best in class. I think they've done a tremendous amount of work on this emerging trend. And we believe our staff has produced one of the nation's strongest data center ordinances. So with that, I'll turn it over to them and allow them to begin the presentation that we think is thoughtful and thorough and may take some time. But we think it's important to communicate what's in this actual ordinance to make sure, from an informational and educational standpoint, the public is aware.

Good morning, Council. My name is Hunter Garrison. I serve as the Deputy Director of the Mayor's Office of Resilience and Sustainability.

And good morning again. My name is Kim Spurl. I serve as the City Zoning Administrator in the Department of Planning, Engineering, and Permits.

All right. Thank you, Council. So a lot of you, all of you here have heard various versions of this presentation. So forgive us as we repeat some things that you're very knowledgeable with. But for the public and for everyone else here, we just want to go over everything and take a deep dive into the proposed ordinance. So background information. The impetus behind developing this ordinance is due to the explosive growth and concern around data centers nationally in the United States. We recognize that. We share many of those concerns. The city adopted a six-month temporary suspension on new data center development on March 3rd while this ordinance is being developed. So again, why are we doing this now? Because data center development has evolved rapidly in scale and intensity. Data centers have existed in the city of Birmingham for decades. However, with the advent of AI computing, those data centers at a national scale have rapidly grown in intensity and impact on the surrounding community. So we have recognized the need to create new definitions around all types of data centers and develop those regulations. Birmingham is an attractive destination for this type of development. So we need to be forward thinking and create these regulations. So again, you can see this is an example from a meta AI data center in Newton County, Georgia. This is a large industrial scale land use. We want to regulate this because it is very different from existing examples of data centers that have existed in the city of Birmingham and the United States.

So just as a quick recap to let you understand how we got here today, the city staff began working on draft regulations in February. We held a planning commission workshop with the city's planning commission on March 11th. to discuss the draft ordinance. And then on March 18th, the planning commission voted on that ordinance to send it to this council with their recommendation. On March 24th, the ordinance went to the planning and zoning committee, where they also voted to send the draft to the city council for consideration. On March 31st, we set the first of two public hearings, and that first public hearing was held on April 28th, and that item was withdrawn, and then a new public hearing was set for today with the amended draft that's before you. So real quick, we would just like to hit on some of the items that are included in the draft. As Hunter mentioned, we know the majority of concerns surround the hyperscale data centers, but we want to make sure that you understand all of the language that is included in the ordinance not related to hyperscale. So this draft includes definitions for all of the data center related uses. Some of those definitions include defining the different types of data centers. We also have some definitions that we have included that are just related to the protections and conditions that are contained for each type of data center. including a definition for aggregate electrical demand, ancillary infrastructure, a backup generator, a closed loop cooling system, fuel cells, illicit connection, illicit discharge, switching station, and ultimate build out. So those will be new terms that will be added to the city's zoning ordinance as it relates to these different levels of data centers. So as we dive a little bit deeper into the types of data centers that will be used, we'll start with the fiber hut. This is, you probably have driven around your neighborhood or driven into town and you've seen these small structures on the side of the road. These are not manned, they are small buildings. They kind of resemble what you would see at the base of a cell tower. And so we have added this as a use in the zoning ordinance, and we have defined the locations where they will be allowed. They just provide additional connectivity to some areas and neighborhoods that don't have connectivity. So you probably won't see these in our downtown core, but you might see some of them popping up in some of our more suburban areas of town. We also introduce an accessory data center as a use in the zoning ordinance. So an accessory data center is going to be a facility that is incidental and subordinate to a primary use. So these are probably the majority of the data centers that we have in the city right now. Um, a lot of our banking and financial institutions have accessory data centers located inside their buildings now. I imagine that UAB and some of our other larger institutions also have accessory data centers located within their primary buildings as well. We did not have this defined. We thought it was important to include this when we created this draft to define an accessory data center and to make sure that everyone understands that this is incidental to the primary use The primary use of the building is not the data center itself. Then the next level of a data center is going to be your micro data center. This facility is going to be much smaller than what everyone's seen on the news. This center is going to occupy less than 10,000 square feet of gross floor area and or have an aggregate electrical demand that does not exceed one megawatt. So these are going to be your smaller scale data center facilities. Then we move up to what we are calling our medium scale data center. This is what currently exists in the Titusville neighborhood. The DC blocks facility would be considered a medium data center as it exists today. This data center occupies between 10,000 and 200,000 square feet of gross floor area. AND IT'S AGGREGATE ELECTRICAL DEMAND IS BETWEEN ONE MEGAWATT AND NO MORE THAN 30 MEGAWATTS. OKAY.

SO I WANT TO SPEAK AT HIGH LEVEL BEFORE WE JUMP INTO THE VERY DETAILED 20 CONDITIONS THAT WE HAVE PROPOSED FOR HYPERSCALE DATA CENTERS, WHICH WILL TAKE UP THE REMAINDER OF THE PRESENTATION. It's important to consider, remember that none of these conditions would be sufficient if they stood alone. We've looked at data center ordinances across the country and we have taken the very best elements of many of those as well as creating some of our own based on our concerns around our community to create layers of protection that insulate and put guardrails on data centers to protect our residents. These protections include category restrictions, setbacks, minimum lot size, buffering requirements, water requirements, energy generation. For example, if we were only concerned about water, We wouldn't be protecting our residents from harmful emissions of onsite power generations like you see at Colossus X in Memphis. But we have looked at all of these major concerns and created an ordinance that we genuinely believe, when combined, produces one that is unmatched in the southeast and stands among the nation's strongest ordinances regulating data centers in the country. Now I'm going to talk a little bit on restrictions around our regulatory authority. Sometimes people would ask to just ban data centers outright. We do not have the authority to do that. Municipalities in the United States cannot prohibit any legal land use from developing outright. We can't add extra rules on top of what the state already regulates as well. ADEM handles most water and environmental regulations, and the Alabama Public Service Commission oversees power usage. So again, if it's illegal land use in the United States, we have to allow it somewhere in the city of Birmingham. In the last two months in Michigan, a rural community tried to shut down an open AI data center. The court ruled against them for exclusionary zoning because they had no industrial zone property in the city. So we cannot ban data centers. We can only put meaningful guardrails on them to protect our residents. Here's a real world example. So Colossus X in Memphis, Tennessee are the X Twitter data center that's gathered lots of national media attention. It uses three millions of gallons of water daily for open-loop cooling. It has a supplemental closed-loop cooling system. However, that would not be permitted under this ordinance in the city of Birmingham. We require closed-loop explicitly. We also would not allow for on-site power generation from natural gas turbines. Depending on what figures you look at, Memphis turbines are generating between 150 to 400 megawatts to supplement the power for this facility. That's putting harmful pollutants, increasing urban heat island, and having a detrimental effect on Memphis residents. That would not be permitted in the city of Birmingham. That site would also fail to meet many of our other regulations related to screening, landscaping standards, and general location.

I'll let you take that one.

So real quick, we would like to discuss the key revisions from the draft that you reviewed in April and the draft that's before you today. So first was the removal of the special exception for hyperscale data centers and our I1 and MXD use group C3 properties. That is only if they comply with all 20 of the protections that are outlined in the regulations. The second addition was adding fuel cells as an energy generation system to one of the protections that we have in the conditions. And the third change was mandatory written notification to property owners within 500 feet of all new and expanded hyperscale data centers. So now we're going to dive into some of those protections that we've been referring to for the hyperscale data centers in your packet. There are 20 protections that we have for hyperscale data centers in the city of Birmingham. The first, I'd kind of like to start at the bottom, a five acre minimum lot size. This means that no hyperscale data center could go on any property that is less than five acres. City planning staff did a deep dive into the entire city by community to determine how many properties a new hyperscale data center adjacent to residential property could go to if someone applied for a permit today. There are only five properties across the entire city that are adjacent to residential that would allow a hyperscale data center. And they would meet a 500 foot or 1000 foot setback requirement because the properties are so large. And I would add three of those properties are all owned by the same land owner. So that would only leave two additional properties for hyperscale data center development adjacent to residential, which is why the city included the 500-foot setback from residentially zoned or urban neighborhood zoning in the city of Birmingham. So this would be for any hyperscale data facilities that would locate in I1, which is our light manufacturing district, in I3, which is our planned manufacturing district, and MXD use group C3, which applies to our Oxmoor community. And that is our light industrial zoning classification for our MXD, which is Planned Mixed Use. I would also like to add, and I think it's important to note, that our I-3 districts, the planned manufacturing, requires site development plan and review in addition to the 20 protections, also by the Zoning Advisory Committee. and the neighborhood association so I three as it exists today already requires that site development plan review process because it is our plans manufacturing district and any development in our MX D properties also requires review by the ox more steering committee So there is additional oversight for properties that are located in our Oxmoor community. We also have the 1,000 foot separation from any fixed guideway transit station, BRT station, or any future facility designated by the city as a high capacity transit facility. And the reason that we included that is because We would like to see our BRT corridor as more dense development. There are not a lot of larger vacant sites adjacent to our BRT corridor. Actually, there are none right now. So we wanted to make sure that we encourage transit-oriented development in those corridors.

Thank you, Kim. So in terms of electrical demand requirements, again, much of energy policy is regulated by the Alabama Public Service Commission. However, we require them to demonstrate their estimated peak electrical demand in megawatts. They must identify their anticipated development phases if they're expanding. They must show their estimated aggregate electrical demand. They have to identify the utility providers. They must give us a description of all on and off-site utility and structure. They have to identify any new or expanded substations, transmission lines, distribution lines, switching stations, or similar facilities. And they have to show from the utility provider that they have the capacity to provide the power they are requesting. Water use and cooling systems. Again, we're requiring closed-loop cooling systems. Details on their total annual water use and reporting. Water source identified along with a water conservation and efficiency plan. The capacity must exist for their water demand pre-development. They may make no illicit discharge permitted in the 60s MS4 system, which is in Chapter 4 of the City Code. and then ADEM reviews and monitors that. So I want to just clearly state that data centers using closed-loop cooling systems exclusively use less than or equal to the same amount of water as a comparable-sized office building. Backup power and generators. Again, they must demonstrate generator type, fuel source, and capacity required. Testing and maintenance schedule required. NORS mitigation measures. Limitations on operations must be disclosed. They must be either completely enclosed or acoustically screened, and they cannot be used for routine grid support. Backup generators are permitted under the EPA regulations. And per that EPA requirement, they may not run for more than 100 hours annually. Again, that's regulated by the EPA. And to receive that permit, they cannot exceed 100 hours a year. You want to go on the site development one? Sure.

So while we're going through these protections, I'd like to make sure that you guys understand all of these protections, as Hunter mentioned, work together. They are all required as part of the pre-permit process. So any new hyperscale data center cannot just come into our permitting office and apply for a building permit unless they have provided documentation that we are requiring in these 20 protections. And they will be reviewed by a team of technical staff to ensure compliance with all of those 20 protections. So we will require a detailed site development plan as part of this pre-application process. We want to see all of their utility connections and their infrastructure improvements for the entire site. We also want to see what we typically will ask for in a site plan, the location of any structures, the dimensions, including setbacks from property lines and any residential properties. We want to see on that site plan any ancillary infrastructure. We want to see where your backup generators are located and any outdoor electrical or mechanical equipment. We would like to see your access, circulation, and service areas. We want to see your parking area and how your ingress and egress to and from the site is going to work. And then one of our most important things that we want to see as part of this plan is your screening and buffering in your landscaping. So we are requiring that all of these facilities have a landscape C buffer, which is one of our strictest buffering standards. So we want to see your detailed landscaping plan that's going to provide the size and number of all of your trees and your shrubs. We also want to see their location how many you're going to have on site and we want to see how you're going to incorporate them around the perimeter and interior of your site to help with buffering and screening from adjacent properties.

So noise mitigation, one thing I want to state is that noise is regulated through the city's noise ordinance. We've discussed with OCA, with PEP, that we could look at updating that noise ordinance. However, that is where that's regulated. That's outside the zoning ordinance. However, we still require acoustic wall surrounding backup generators. That landscape buffer C also mitigates the level of noise. They must submit a pre- and post-construction noise study demonstrating compliance with city regulations. There's other elements of this ordinance that more indirectly impact noise, which is the zoning classification where they can locate, which is those I1, I2, MXU, U3s. And then the minimum lot size also assist with that. So on-site power generation. Again, on-site power generation is one of the most concerning elements of data center development today. It's where we... It's where we see some of the greatest concerns with data centers like proposed one in Utah or Colossus X in Memphis. So we address that very directly. We only allow on-site power generation by either solar, which would be rooftop or parking lot solar or somewhere on that site, or through fuel cells. Any other method of power generation that would be a dirtier fuel source or create local emissions would be prohibited. I'll speak briefly to fuel cells since that was an addition from the initial draft. But a fuel cell is essentially a device that converts chemical energy into electricity. So unlike a battery, which stores power, fuel cells have a continuously generated electricity as long as the fuel, which is typically hydrogen and oxygen, are supplied. They're extremely efficient and extremely clean. However, they're very expensive, which is why you don't see a proliferation of those for data centers today. However, that technology is continuing to evolve and progress, and we could see fuel cells emerge in data centers across the country. And then on-site battery storage is permitted. That's subject to emergency response plans reviewed by our fire department. With the on-site battery storage, what they would generally do is charge it off peak demand hours, so in the night, and then supplement their power during the busiest time of the day so it's not putting as much strain on the grid. Again, I just want to emphasize the fact that these regulations would prohibit controversial data centers which use on-site gas turbines or 24-7 diesel generators to provide on-site power. This is thermal imaging of Colossus X in Memphis. You can see these are natural gas turbines and generators. You can see the thermal footprint is where those emissions are coming from. This would not be allowed in Birmingham if this ordinance is passed. Lighting requirements. And subject to all federal, state, and local requirements, we took a policy recommendation from Dark Sky International that was provided to us by a UAB astronomy professor. And that's widely regarded as a best practice. It's something we'd like to transfer to other uses in the city. However, we feel like it's important to get this into the data center regulations so that they're not lit up. 24 seven and causing light pollution intrusion on the surrounding community.

So one of our protections that we think is very strong and is important to note is that any existing facility that is approved by this ordinance that increases their gross floor area, electrical demand, water consumption, cooling capacity, backup power generation, meaning the addition of generators, or fuel storage capacity beyond what was initially approved by that permit will be deemed a material change or expansion and will require the applicant to resubmit for compliance with all 20 of these requirements. So we wanted to make sure that that was very clear, that once you obtain your permit and you meet the 20 conditions and you build your facility, you cannot keep expanding your facility just because you would like to or without any regulatory actions. You will be required to resubmit and meet all 20 protections for any expansion or new use. I'd also like to talk very briefly about our notification requirements. This is one of the additions that was made to the ordinance. We are requiring that the developer provide written notification to all property owners within 500 feet of the subject property. And this would include any new or expanded hyperscale data centers. And you may ask, why did we pick 500? We thought that adjacent was not enough. Adjacent is just if you share or cross the street from the subject property. And our rezoning committee uses 500 feet for their notification requirements. So we felt like 500 feet would provide enough Distance and spacing to include for this notification requirement We are suggesting that the applicant gets the list of adjacent property owners from the tax assessor's office and our team does this regularly as we fulfill our duties for our regulatory committees and So we will be happy to assist applicants in this step. And they must send notice by certified mail. The reason we want certified mail is because it can be tracked. If you guys have ever gone to the post office and sent a letter via certified mail, it has stickers all over it with tracking numbers so that we can track that piece of mail and know when it was sent, when it was delivered, and if it was received by the property owner. So as part of the pre-application process, the developer would have to submit his proof that they did send those letters to all property owners within 500 feet So we would require a copy of the letter. We would also require the tracking numbers and the list of the property owners that confirmed delivery of those letters. And although it's not explicitly stated in this ordinance, our staff is happy to provide a template so that the developers will have a model to use for a letter. We actually, took this requirement from a sister city's ordinance related to short-term rentals, and we really liked this requirement, and we will be happy to provide the developer with a sample letter that they can use to send to applicants.

Before you go to your next slide, Mr. Garrison and Ms. Sproul, there's a lot of conversation around 500 feet versus 1,000. We know that was one of the requests that we received from the last meeting. Could you go back and explain in detail and in plain language why the 500 feet but in totality of everything else so that's understood why professional staff's making this recommendation for 500 feet versus 1,000?

Sure. So again, the 500 feet does not stand alone. It exists with all of our other requirements, the landscape screening, the buffering, the zoning categories where it can exist. To speak plainly, once this is passed, it would be easier to build a new steel manufacturing plant in the city than it would be a data center. So this is one of our most robust buffers, and we genuinely believe that combined with all the conditions we have, especially around water usage, screening, and on-site power generation, genuinely believe that 500 feet adequately protects the community.

There's a second topic around taking out the special exception, and if Attorney Bernard wants to add anything that you two may want to speak to, could you explain why that special exception, which was not originally put in by staff, it was a recommendation from a partner, but after careful consideration, why that's not in and what we're doing in exchange as it relates to community members being allowed to have a public meeting beyond it being an award.

So with the 20 conditions that we have, you know, you have to look at it as if you're a landowner, you meet all 20 of these conditions, you're, you're completely following the law and the regulations we've set forth. And then you go before a voting body and they simply tell you no, because they don't like it, which is, which is fair. it sets us up for arbitrary and capricious zoning cases. And to get that overturned, it is, it is very hard to legally defend that if you take the data center out of it and you make it any other land use, think of the repercussions. If I'll make a silly analogy, if people hated soccer, they're like, this is football only. And I wanted to open a store that sold soccer equipment. And I met all of our legal requirements. but then I had to go before this special body and the community turned out, they hated it, turned it down. You would get sued and you would lose.

I would also add, um, a lot of you have attended our zoning board of adjustment meetings in the past. Our zoning board of adjustment, although special exceptions are, um, Permitted in the zoning ordinance. There are very few special exception uses and I would add that they are used They're not used often because the zoning board is primarily To hear variances if you would like to vary in your the height of your fence If you would like a 20 foot setback versus a 25 foot setback So when you introduce such a polarized issue, such a political issue before our board, it turns it into a political meeting, and it does not serve the purpose of our Zoning Board of Adjustment.

We do feel, Madam President, Mr. Chairman, Mr. Co-Chairman, and other counselors, in speaking with you and speaking with the legal department, speaking with PEP's sustainability team, But equally importantly speaking with the economic development team, from a policy standpoint, we do believe that we, from a policy standpoint, any of these organizations in any city will either go to that city's economic development department and ask for incentives, or we definitely know this, we'll go to what's equivalent to any other community for our IDBA board, or IDBA, I think I'm getting my acronyms, my letters in the right order. Either way it go, an automatic trigger, Madam President and co-chairs and counselors. From a policy standpoint, we will require, in addition to the certified letter, an automatic trigger before you can even get a permit that you have to have a public meeting to share in person what you're actually doing, what you're bringing to that community. So from a policy standpoint, we feel that is sufficient to make sure that public voice in person is given.

I was just going to add Julie Bernard from the office of city attorney, a service assistant city attorney. The standards are very different for special exception and for a variance with a special exception. Those are uses that the council has already said are allowed. But you've asked the ZBA to just do an additional review. And that standard's pretty general as to it tends not to impair the public health safety and welfare. It's kind of a broad standard. The difference with the variants where somebody, so if someone came in and wanted to develop but they didn't meet one of the conditions, because it is part of the zoning ordinance and because the ZBA is created to prevent the council's decision about that overall zoning ordinance from being found unconstitutional. It allows people the opportunity to vary from the strict requirements of the ordinance. So if someone didn't meet, say, one or two of those conditions, they could request a variance from the Zoning Board of Adjustment. That would, again, be a hearing, but the standards are very different. There are six standards. I'm not going to name them all here because I'm going to forget them, but they are things like... financial gain is not the only reason for seeking the variance. You've got to show, it's basically you've got to show a hardship. Something about the configuration, the shape, the location of that particular property within the area is so different and so unique that you're not going to be able to use that property without having some, you know, relief from what the zoning ordinance requires. And that means you'd have to show you couldn't use it at all. So that's one, you know, one issue to understand. And another is if a facility became a legal non-conforming use, they would have to go through the zoning board of a, well, they would either have to come to the, they would usually have to come to the council, sorry, not zoning board. They would come to the council for a rezoning if they became a legal non-conforming because of some change that had happened in regulations over time.

One last note from the mayor's office. Could you share with this council related to, I guess the current moratorium that we're under, if the ordinance is not passed, those not subject to the ordinance, what can or cannot happen?

As far as the moratorium, there were certain exemptions placed in that moratorium for projects that vested rights in their property and their project. Before the moratorium was put in place, which was not until I believe it was March 3rd and so allowing that some You know building permits were requested issued. You know that kind of thing so the They would be able to continue if they're exempt from the moratorium. They would be able to continue on with construction and the council would maybe perhaps have to make a decision at some time whether or not to extend the moratorium.

Could they expand under the existing moratorium?

Potentially, yes, if they're currently cited legally and can make those changes, yes, if they're exempt.

And I'll just, I'll wrap up. I've got two more slides. So if we could go back to those. So again, I'm just going to kind of reiterate what the mayor and attorney Bernard said, but in terms of economic development incentives for any data center, we're committed to this as a city administration for any data center to receive incentives from the city or a support letter from the city to the industrial development board or IDB, a public meeting must be held with the public of the community. And then again, to reiterate what Attorney Bernard just said, in a hypothetical scenario where a data center is under development that has gone through the permitting process, until this regulatory ordinance is passed, that underway project could amend its permit to expand without having to comply with any of these proposed regulations. Thank you.

Mayor and staff, thank you for your update. Council, do you have any questions for staff, Mayor? Councilor O'Quinn.

SECTION 1, ARTICLE 3 DEFINITIONS, THERE ARE A COUPLE OF REFERENCES TO SPECIFICALLY TO DATA CENTERS. FIRST IS NUMBER 7, AGGREGATE ELECTRICAL DEMAND. AND THE SECOND ONE IS NUMBER 233, ULTIMATE BUILDOUT. BOTH OF THOSE DEFINITIONS. specifically refer to data center. Um, and it would be my recommendation that those definitions be, um, modified to strike data center specifically. Um, and so that those definitions would apply to any, uh, applicable situation. Um, Secondly, the section seven, the hyperscale data center number eight, this is the section of the code that refers to the noise issues. Can you describe to me what a pre and post noise study What requirements are in a noise study? Is there a technical definition, specifications for what a noise study entails? Is there a, you know, accrediting organization, engineering standards, so on and so forth?

So generally when we receive these noise studies, they have to go through an independent accredited organization or company that specializes in conducting noise studies. They couldn't just go out there, do it themselves, and have one of their employees submit the noise study. We would not recognize that as being compliant with the ordinance.

THIRD ISSUE IS SECTION 7D, HYPERSCALE DATA CENTER NUMBER 20. THIS IS THE SECTION THAT REFERS TO WRITTEN NOTIFICATION. YOU GUYS SUGGESTED THAT THERE'S A TEMPLATE THAT YOU COULD PROVIDE THE APPLICANT. But I'm curious as to why we wouldn't specify what information would have to be included in that written notification.

Could you share from the other city you kind of got this from? why that exists like that?

Yes, sir, absolutely. So we will provide a template for the developer to use and have references to the information we want included in the letter. The reason we did not include a draft of the letter in the ordinance is because we did not feel that was the appropriate place for the letter. We require notice requirements for a lot of issues throughout our zoning ordinance. and this is not necessarily the location for that. We do have policies that our planning team adheres to, and one of those policies will be to provide sample templates of the letter that will include information such as the property address, the parcel ID number, the size of the site, and then general details as far as the size of the proposed data center, the electrical demand, and the address. And then real quick, I'd like to address your definition comments, Counselor O'Quinn. These definitions are just specific to data centers, but you brought up a very good point. We do have some terminology that we need to add to the ordinance as it relates to other uses. That's one thing that we have discovered as part of this process. So I would like to let you know that you guys need to be ready because we will have some zoning changes coming your way as we modify some of our existing definitions and other uses in the ordinance.

Thank you. Thank you, Councillor Quinn.

Thank you, Council Vassa. Thank you all for the presentation. I do have a couple of questions, maybe just one. I know that during the presentation you did offer that there are only so many areas that would support some of the definitions of the type of data centers that we are defining in this ordinance. I know we talked about the ZBA and there was also discussion about the Oxmoor Steering Committee. I've had questions related to a covenant, an Oxmoor covenant that exists. Could you just help me clarify and help me understand what that role would be as far as if this ordinance went into place between ZBA and the Oxmoor Steering Committee?

Yes, ma'am. So I believe some of the covenants you're referring to are those that are part of the Oxmoor Corporate Park. We do have covenants attached to developments throughout the city. The city does not participate in the creation or regulation of those covenants. We can only regulate our city code and our ordinances. But individual properties can be part of covenants that are regulated separate from the city. And they do have their own boards and they have their own processes for approvals for new projects and for amending those regulations. But that is not something that the city participates in. We're not legally authorized to enforce those covenants.

Thank you. Dr. O'Quinn has already asked the question, had the same questions about the regulations that are being put forth as far as noise and protecting and ensuring that the noise levels and those requirements are met. Thank you, Dr. O'Quinn, for asking that question. I did have a question regarding that as well.

Madam President, we think that's an important point. I know the last four weeks that was something that was shared with us yesterday and I think where we meet the council and where we meet the public on that is that we do believe the regulation around noise is required. I know there's a request for more quantitative, and I don't think there's an objection to that. I think from a process standpoint, we want to be, like, just overly direct with you and want to state that it's already been stated, but I think it should be restated that it doesn't necessarily belong in this ordinance. Staff, PEP, the Home Sustainability Team, and legal recommends that noise regulation should be in our noise ordinance, which we all agree needs to be amended, not just for this, but a sincere overhaul related to putting the decimal point back in. I think there's another question around, how long does that take? They've shared with us it's going to take well beyond four weeks to do. But that doesn't mean they're not going to do it. And then the third thing is around enforcement. I don't want anybody to think we are ignoring the quantitative requests. Um, I just, I trust the professional staff and team legal when they say it belongs somewhere else, it's going to take time and we've got to make sure we can enforce it. Is there anything else you want to add from the legal department or the office of city attorney?

Thank you, mayor. I will add, I mean, it's been a long hope to, add a table for decibel limits back into the ordinance. We've got to consider equipment, training and staff for how we do that and doing it citywide. Those, when you get into some detail, when you get into very minute detail of regulation, those things are better handled in the city code. They're easier for this council to change. if something, if we put some very money detail, we have to go back through a four week hearing process, you know, lengthy process through multiple layers of committees and a hearing process with a four week notice, you know, publication, we're changing this from, you know, point two to point one, we would have to go through that whole process to make that change. Whereas, If we get those types of things into the general city code, then it's easier for this council to review and make changes in a faster amount of time without a lot of expenditure of resources on it to consider. So that's one thing I'd like you to consider. And the zoning ordinance is also enforced by the zoning enforcement staff. We would have other enforcement mechanism with having it in a general code.

Thank you. Those are my questions. Counselor, thank you.

Thank you, Madam President. Any other counselors? Counselor Quinn.

Yeah, just following up on that last question, following the same logic, wouldn't it make sense then to remove the quantitative standards that are required for lighting trespass

I believe staff stated that there are already some lighting standards within the zoning ordinance, and those are dealing more definitely with property. Noise is something that's more mobile. It's different. And I'll let staff speak to more how we would regulate the lighting. But there's some differences in dealing with lighting and dealing with noise.

I'll just briefly speak on lighting. Like we had a policy which was international dark sky organization where we could adapt their best practice policy recommendation and put that into the zoning ordinance. So like for lighting, you know, like if there's a bulb, You know its temperature. You know its wattage. You have down lighting requirements. You can very easily measure that lighting output. Sound has hundreds of different environmental factors that affect how that travel, whether that's ambient temperature, humidity, the time of year. Sound's going to travel farther in the winter because there's less vegetation. If you're in a bowl or valley, it's going to travel differently from if you're on top of a mountain or on a flat plain. Lighting is just much more complex for us to regulate than sound.

Thank you, Dr. O'Quinn. Seeing no other questions from counselors, I think we will begin the public hearing process. Thank you, staff. Thank you, Mayor, for your updates. So folks, let me talk through some logistics. Thanks for your patience. We have a packed house today. It's good to see civic engagement. We appreciate you being here. Before we begin, I just kind of wanted to review a few procedural rules to make sure that we kind of get through this quickly. So the way that is sort of best to do this, so there are a lot of voices that want to be heard today. Our goal today is to make sure every speaker is treated fairly and that every comment is heard. So the best way to do this is to keep comments focused on this data ordinance before us. Today's hearing concerns the proposed DATA ORDINANCE. I KNOW MANY RESIDENTS HAVE STRONG OPINIONS ABOUT THE PROJECT THAT IS OFF OF LAKESHORE PARKWAY. THOSE PERSPECTIVES ARE IMPORTANT. THAT SAID, THAT PROJECT IS NOT THE MATTER BEFORE US TODAY. SO WE ARE HERE TO DISCUSS THIS DATA CENTER ORDINANCE SPECIFICALLY. SO IF COMMENTS MOVE BEYOND THE TOPIC OF THE ORDINANCE BEFORE I may redirect or cut time short so we can stay focused on the issue since we have so many folks ready to speak and already lining up. Y'all may know we have folks in this chamber. We're full house. I believe we have the second floor and first floor also filled up for spillover. So I do want to make sure that we accommodate everybody who is interested in speaking. All right. So each speaker will have up to three minutes. Y'all will see there are two TVs on the left side and on the right side. They have the countdown. It starts at three minutes, goes down to zero. At 30 seconds, you'll see red. So after you speak, please, just from a logistics standpoint, exit the chambers to accommodate those in spillover who are interested in speaking. Does that make sense? So at this time, for those in the chamber right now, please raise your hand if you plan on speaking so we have a general idea. All right, thank you. So we'll invite you to speak. If you're interested in speaking, you can stand in the line or you can wait until the line dwindles down. And then I believe staff is on hand to sort of bring remaining folks from Spillover up for their comments as well. All right. So we will shortly begin with the first person. And just to review the rules again, we have three minutes that will start the clock. And I'll ask that once called up, please come to the podium, state your name and your full address, and you may begin your comments. We'll start with the first person. Again, please state your name and your full address. Thank you.

Good morning. My name is David Butler, and I am at 268 Kingston Circle, Birmingham 35211, and I live in the Oxmoor Valley project. Why I'm able to stand here matters as much as what I say. Right now, this council still holds a public hearing on data centers. The ordinance in front of you would take that away, and we are already watching what happens when it's gone. Let's start with noise, because the company tells on itself. On its own website, Nebious says it will use noise reduction technology to keep noise low. Its representatives told this community the design would minimize.

Mr. Butler, just as a reminder, we're here to talk about the data.

It will be relevant. Thank you. Companies like Nebious say or use noise reduction technology and will keep noise low. Representatives from these AI data centers and data factories say the design will minimize sound with sound walls, fans, and acoustic canopies. The sound studies paid for by these companies promises the noises will stay within today's ambient levels. All of these words are not eliminate because the noise can't be eliminated. A 300 megawatt facility running around the clock with cooling systems and emergency generators make noise. The most their designs can do is mitigate it. Here is what mitigated sounds like. These are recordings of operating data centers. Some of these recordings are taken from half a mile away through a quarter mile of wooded areas. Can we hear that, Ms. Tate? I see you. All right. That home never stops. It's what families hear with the windows open, what children at Oxmoor Valley Elementary and Spring Valley School will hear at recess, within ambient on the applicant's own one-time study, is not the same as living beside it. Now connect that to this audience. The Oxmoor project never had to face this room, and the revised draft would make that the rule for everyone. Its single biggest change is removing the special exception requirement the very step that triggers a public hearing. Under this version, the next hyperscaler simply files a permit. No hearing, no room like this one. It still keeps the setback at 500 feet when residents and Councilor O'Quinn, among others, explicitly ask for 1,000 feet. What we're asking for, since the noise can't be eliminated, is that this ordinance include specific numbers about noise. And at the very least, We should keep our right to be heard. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Butler. All right, we'll have the next speaker. And as a reminder, because of litigation, we'll ask to refrain from using the name of any specific data center. But feel free to broadly speak to that. Thank you. Next speaker, please state your name and your full address, please.

Good morning. My name is Olivia Thompson. I live at 824 11th Street Southwest, Birmingham, Alabama. I'm here to speak on what I just heard this presentation say. There are more. There are two more data streams. I know for a fact that they're going to put one in Mason City off Sparley School Road in District 6. We already got one in District 6. This thing is They said 500 feet. That's a disgrace because if you put in a 500 feet, the residents and neighbors, they cross the street from it. And all you're going to have is problems in that neighborhood. You already have problems, but you don't try to clean that up. But you're going to put more problems on us. When you said that there will not be any downtown Birmingham, I want to know why. You won't put them downtown Birmingham, but you'll put them in on the residents. That's a disgrace right there. Y'all care for the residents. It's our vote. But when it comes to what we want, y'all don't care. Y'all don't care what none of the residents want. And only somebody going to get a win-win out of this, what they're doing. When they say that you tilt the commission, you tilt the commission, don't care about the people neither. Only somebody going to get a win-win is Alabama Power, who putting their money in them pants for the people.

Thank you, Ms. Thompson. We'll have the next girl come up here.

Mr. Chair, I would like to correct something. There is not a data center coming to Mason City. We saw a map and there's nowhere in district six where a data center can exist. Nowhere, not under this. It's not, we haven't heard about it.

All right. We have the next speaker and I'll remind folks that once you speak, please, uh, if you can exit the chamber to allow for other folks from spillover to come up next speaker, please state your name and full address, please. Thank you.

My name is Lauren Gibson and I live at four 36 Sunbelt drive, Birmingham, Alabama. And I'm asking the council to restore the special exception requirement for all hyperscale data centers in every district. Because what we heard here today tells us that you're not writing an ordinance to get it right. You're writing an ordinance that's just good enough. And quite frankly, that's not good enough for us. The amended draft lists hyperscale facilities as permitted with conditions in most industrial districts, requiring a special exception and only two. The original draft required it everywhere. That change matters more than it sounds. The special exception process is how ordinary citizens like us get real rights, notice that a project is coming, the right to appear, the right to present evidence, and the right to question what they are told. A permitted use skips most of that. A 300 megawatt industrial complex situated near a hospital, an animal shelter, a transit station, or a neighborhood should never be approved as routine permitted use, no matter what district it lands in. We have already seen what happens when the process is bypassed with the current project underway. A legal determination concluded that the substation and switch yard did not need city council approval at all, wiping out months of zoning board hearings. Residents who showed up organized and testified found their decision had moved somewhere they couldn't follow. Special exception keeps these decisions in the open. in front of you on the record and we want it restored across the board. There are a myriad of lives impacted by these data centers. And I want you to understand that they're not just damn animals. They're not just damn kids. They're not just damn residents. We are your constituents. And we are yelling from our yards, from our rooftops, and from the mountain tops that we do not like what we're hearing. And you seem to be deaf to our words. But let me tell you something. You will hear us in the one place that it matters, and that's the voting booth.

Thank you, Ms. Taylor. Next speaker, please state your full name and your full address. Thank you.

My name is John Hilly and my wife, Regina, and I reside at 3963 Sydney Trail in the Grand Neighborhood. We are here today because these proposed ordinances will affect not only our community, but every neighborhood that may face industrial-scale hyper-facilities in the future. While these draft ordinances are a step forward, there are still significant concerns. The removal of special exceptions and public input reduces the voice of the citizens most affected, as can be seen by the bipartisan crowd here today. This is not a political but a community of voting citizens coming together with one concern. The proposed 500-foot residential setback is inadequate when people live in these homes for 24 hours a day when bus stops and transit stations receive 1,000 feet. That makes no sense. There are also unanswered questions regarding PM 2.5 hazardous particulate emissions from backup generators. Also, what types of fuel cell technologies are used, solid fuels or hydrogen? and the heat impacts these facilities can have on surrounding neighborhoods and facilities and what they are considered by the EPA. With only three minutes to speak, I want to focus on one issue, is the noise. I'm asking the council to adapt real, enforceable, numerical noise limits. The draft ordinance requires noise studies before and after construction, but it sets no baseline standards for those studies must meet. A noise study without a limit is simply paperwork. It tells you how loud a facility is. It does not require the facility to reduce the noise. We will study it. It is not protection. A number you can to enforce is. The ordinance should establish enforceable limits at the nearest residential property line no more than 55 decibels during the day and 45 decibels at night. measured using the C-weighted readings and octave band analysis so that low-frequency noise, the hum that carries into your homes and bedrooms, which we hear daily, is properly measured and not measured by the A-rated scale, which is for human speech. In fact, your Mr. Philip Foster of the ZBA added enforceable numbers during the special exception vote, quote, non-vote, for the Lakeshore factory, which became moot after the fact. These limits should also remain in effect during utility outages when every backup generator on site may be operating and nearby residents need protection the most. Cooling systems, transformers, and generators can operate around the clock and are hazardous to humans and animals as indicated by the CDC and the WHO. Once this equipment is installed and running, it becomes far more difficult to address impacts. Low frequency noise is one of the most common complaints associated with large industrial factories, and residents deserve meaningful protection before construction begins. I will close with a question for each council member, and also some of the business leaders are here. If this facility was proposed in your district, or if you had one built in your neighborhood, and your residents strongly opposed it, would you still vote in favor of it? I'd say over 80% do not want these facilities in their neighborhoods. And the people you represent deserve the same consideration and protection you would want for your own neighborhoods.

Thank you, Mr. Ennis. Thank you. Next speaker, please. Please state your name and your full address. Thank you.

Good morning. My name is Walter Body. I live at 1813 Calgary Drive in the optimal Valley community to the mayor, city council and other representatives. I come before you this morning with the expectation of accountability. You're charged with delivering to the members of our Birmingham City. The ability to have improved roads, better schools, better playgrounds, cleaned up communities that are addressing overgrown weeds and abandoned homes, property values that don't decrease, and resale and marketability of our community. When you talk about data centers for or against, I ask that you take that into consideration as it relates to what decisions you make here this morning. I can't tell you that I'm against it. But what I can tell you is that I'm for a better Birmingham. When I retired in 2018, the members of the city council at that point in time asked me to stay involved in the city and in my community. I've done so. So I ask you to now stay involved and make the decisions that are best for the city of Birmingham and the citizens of Birmingham as you go through your deliberations. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Barney.

Next speaker, please. Please state your name and your full address. Thank you.

Hello, Cherie Bishop, 3944 Sydney Trail. I'm asking the council to require independent baseline environmental testing before construction and independent monitoring afterward. The draft covers water feasibility and stormwater, but it requires no baseline data on air, soil, surface water, or groundwater. before a facility is built. Without a baseline, no one can prove what the facility changed. If a neighbor's well drops, a stream shows contamination, or the air shifts, the operator can simply say, prove it was us. And the record to do that would not exist. That silence benefits the operator and no one else. Please require, at the applicant's expense, independent baseline testing of air, surface water, soil, every private well within one mile, performed by a qualified third party that the city selects, not the developer. PFAS, heavy metals, and pH in both the baseline and ongoing panels, quarterly independent monitoring of water withdrawals, cooling tower discharge, and property line noise that should be posted publicly, and the right of adjacent owners to bring in their own expert at the applicant's cost when impacts are reasonably suspected. For the 300 megawatt facility already moving forward at Oxmoor, beside neighborhoods and future animal shelter campus, the window to capture a true baseline is closing fast. For every project after it, build this protection into the ordinance so accountability does not depend on data that nobody bothered to collect. So this is a question for each of you counselors. If this data center were proposed in your district and the residents in your district strongly opposed it, would you still vote in favor of it?

Thank you, Ms. Bishop. Next speaker, please. Please state your name and your full address. Thank you.

Good morning. My name is Stroud Williams. I reside at 332 Highland Park Drive, Highland Lakes. Yes, an unincorporated Shelby County, but I appreciate the opportunity to be able to speak to council this morning. I'm a 30 plus year veteran of financial technology. Yes, I have built data centers, small operations for the purpose of banks and financial institutions such as credit unions. Yes, I'm 70 years old and I'll be 71 in September. I maintain a very high level of awareness of financial technology as well as technology in general. I'm very versed in AI technology. I have individuals in my startup companies that are using AI right now to address fraud and other issues. My charge or recommendation to this council, yes, I live outside of the city of Birmingham. But there are suburbs in this area that are also being affected, and there are individuals that I happen to meet outside that are from other areas such as Calera, Wilsonville, Westover, let's just go on and on. And my charge to you guys and ladies, gentlemen and ladies, is that you make sure that you are aware of what's going on here, okay? Because there's a lot of things that are involved in this that number one, expose the residents to a lot of things as these individuals, they've all done their homework and I've done it at 2.30 in the morning talking to an AI agent for over an hour last night that told me exactly where this meeting was and what time it would be and where I needed to be. AI is here, it's not gonna go away. It's artificial intelligence that was created by individuals with computers like me I'm not a computer, but an individual that built computers and programmed, okay? Yes, it's all bits and bytes, but the awareness is that you guys have a vulnerability, okay? And the vulnerability is that there have already been instances, and you can go out and Google or search or whatever you use, where certain city councils and city commissions have been served with injunctions because they... They allowed certain things to go outside of Barren Orrish, which is what you guys are looking at today, and that they also were, well, I hate to use the term, but somewhat duped by the land development companies that are coming into these councils, specifically in areas like the Wilson Bay area, and they are specifically going in and getting a non-development, disclosure or agreement signed prior to buying the properties and then contracting with the vendors that are going to be occupying those data centers. And so I'm available any time for your resource if you'd like to. My company is FintegrateTech.com. Thank you. All right. Thank you, Mr. Williams.

Next speaker, please. Your name and your full address. Thank you.

Good morning. My name is Rachel Leader and I live in Ross Bridge, so I'm not a constituent, but I'm here to remind you that your decisions will impact others in other municipalities as I live three miles from a currently permitted data center that you guys have already approved. So I was intending to read a whole bunch, but I have some questions actually that I would love to, that I think need to be addressed in the proposed ordinances. One, it stated that any changes, whether it be incapacity, backup generation, fuel storage, would require a new review. But I believe the new ordinance is where the ordinances never say who's going to specifically review it, what process applies, and it's not specifically written. And so therefore, it leaves room for change. And it's up to whoever's interpretation is. So I feel like that needs to be specifically written in. A couple of other things I have, are there any heat index studies? It's proven that data centers increase temperatures anywhere between 3.6 to as much as I believe 16 degrees for up to the six miles surrounding those data centers. Requiring, I understand about the buffering, but have you guys taken into account the city lines. So for example, Nevis sits very close to Hoover City, right? That property line. So if there's any changes that are done within Hoover City that takes down trees, changes the landscape, it's going to change the noise and the light studies because those all impact the noise, I guess, ultimately. And that contributes to the buffering, right? Not just what you guys have in the ordinance, but everything surrounding it. And then also I want you to help me understand how a neighborhood association has input on a convenience store, but they don't have any input regarding a data center, which is gonna have way more impact than a convenience store. So those are my questions, and I hope you guys take those into account. Thank you for your time.

Thank you, Ms. Taylor. Next speaker, please. Your name and your full address. Thank you.

Good morning. Thank you for the opportunity to speak. My name is Terry Michael. I live at 629 Ridgetop Circle. Before any discussion of the substance, I want to raise a procedural matter for the record. The city published its notice for today's hearing under section 1152-77. The Alabama code you failed to do it correctly because the notice is improper any ordinance adopted is void I'm stating this objection so that it is preserved on the record I would also like to point out the following we were told lies about the moratorium There's no state law that forbids permitted projects from being placed in a moratorium up until this morning the Birmingham City website Had today's meeting listed at 9 o'clock in the only two places you could even find the time. However, it was finally added to the city's own event calendar just today with the correct time. The city has made it almost impossible to find even the incorrect time on their website. The news last night even reported today's meeting as being 9 o'clock. The city didn't even post the actual ordinance online until two weeks ago. It has been stated by counselor and mayor that the public hearings need to be discontinued for these hyperscale data factories because they're too political. You all are the politicians. We are the citizens. We are the citizens. This body did not even have the amended ordinance in their possession until May 13th, the day after the meeting in which you had your first reading and voted to put it on the calendar for this public hearing. It is pretty obvious that a particular data center is writing or at least has had serious input into the creation of this ordinance. They made a deal with Bloom for fuel cells and then you added fuel cell language to the ordinance. A counselor has also said that Birmingham has always been open for business, but sometimes it's to the detriment of the people, and that this council is different, and that it's great that you all are open for business now and doing right by the people, that you all are better than 50 years ago, but are you really? You release this amended ordinance with absolutely nothing that the people wanted, and you actually took out the trigger for a public hearing, refused to change the set back to 1,000 and you added what that particular data center wanted. How is any of this about the citizens? If you are different from the past, prove it. Make these changes that we are asking you to make. The most important that we've not talked about is the decommissioning bond. Let's not create more brownfields. Remember our history. You guys have an opportunity to put in a decommissioning bond to make sure that no other company ever comes into Birmingham and leaves the land as bad as these other companies have. That is your legacy. Vote no or you gotta go.

Thank you, Ms. Michael.

Next speaker, please.

Yes, you can come up. Just state your name and remember your full address, including zip code. And one mention, if you have already spoken, please remember to exit chambers so that we can have other speakers come up from spillover. Thank you.

Hello, good morning. My name is Libby Hudson and I live at 1605 Linda Vista Lane, Birmingham, Alabama 35226. While I am not a resident of Birmingham City, there is currently a project going on that would affect me. I am four and a half miles away from a currently approved data center. I AM ASKING THE COUNCIL TO CLEAN UP THE SIZE CATEGORY DEFINITIONS IN THE ORDINANCE. THE MEDIUM DATA CENTER DEFINITION USES AN AND OR TEST. SQUARE FOOTAGE AND OR MEGA WATTS. THAT CAN PUT ONE FACILITY IN TWO CATEGORIES AT ONCE. A building under 10,000 square feet but drawing 5 megawatts could read as both micro by size and medium by power. Whichever is more convenient for the developer becomes the rule. Please state plainly that the more restrictive category always governs. This sounds technical, but it is exactly where protections quietly disappear. If a facility can claim the smaller, lighter regulated category, it sidesteps the conditions meant for its real impact. Definitions are the foundation. If they are ambiguous, everything built on top of them is too. We have already watched a single legal determination reclassify part of the Oxmoor project out of a process it should have gone through. Loose definitions are an open invitation to do that again and again. Tighten this language now while it is just words on a page so the next applicant cannot argue its way into a lighter category than its footprint and power demand deserve. Please make the more restrictive category control. This question is for each of you counselors. If this data center were proposed in your district and the residents in your district strongly opposed it, Would you still vote in favor of it?

Thank you, Ms. Hobson. Next speaker, please. Thank you, sir. Please state your name and your full address, including zip code.

Yes, my name is Courtney Beeman. I go by Sarge. Did this cut into my three minutes, or how did that work? Do I get three?

I'm sorry, what's your question?

Does this cut into my three minutes?

Yes.

OK, well, I'm going to skip the address and all that type of stuff. With that being said, my name is Courtney Beeman. I go by SARG as an acronym, Saluting and Respect Generally Everyone. First and foremost, I want to talk to the people right quick. don't take this as an opportunity to just speak up, but also talk about solutions for everybody, you know? Sorry, you have to speak to the speaker.

You need to speak into the microphone, please, as part of the public hearing.

Say that again?

You have to speak into the microphone. Okay. For record.

Don't take this as a time to just speak up on problems, try to offer solutions, you know, because y'all don't know what it's like sometimes to lead a community, and it's a lot of pressure on these people. With that being said, I haven't been here that long, but I got all my gray hairs here. You know what I'm saying? So with that being... Elyton. Elyton School. It's been shut down for, what, 15, 20 years? Why not turn it into some type of homeless shelter or some type of community center for the public?

Mr. Sarge, sorry to interrupt, but this is... Public comments have to be about the data center ordinance that we're... here for the public hearing. So if you have something to comment related to the data center. Well, this is my first meeting.

Are you on the speaker's list?

Huh?

Are you on the speaker's list? Oh, no, no, no. This isn't for that. This is for about the ordinance.

Right. We'll get to the public speaking component after the data center hearing. My apologies, everyone. My bad, y'all. It's OK. Thank you, sir. Next speaker, please.

Your name and your full address, including zip code. Thank you. Good morning, and thank you for the opportunity to speak. My name is Jordan Sissel, and my address is 819 30th Street South, Apartment R, Birmingham, Alabama, 35205. I'm gravely concerned by the threat that data centers pose to our community and our resources, especially our drinking water. Appreciate the city and the council taking this matter seriously, and I appreciate the foundation that y'all have built with the proposed zoning zoning ordinance However, I think that tighter restrictions need to be added to the ordinance to more fully protect people environments and resources in our city I Respectfully asked the city and the council to make the following two changes to the ordinance first please reinstate the special exception clause for hyperscale data centers and and expand it to include all size categories of data centers. I don't think that permitting by condition is an effective way to handle data center construction. The technology and best practices around data centers change so often and so quickly that legislation may not always be able to keep up. The City Council must maintain its authority to review each proposed data center individually. Otherwise, we run the risk of destructive projects slipping through the cracks using unforeseen loopholes. Also, the citizens of Birmingham deserve the right to voice our concerns at a public hearing about each and every proposed data center. City representatives earlier said that the public hearings would be tied to incentives. It should just be to exist, period. If data center companies truly want to be good neighbors, then they should embrace public input and transparency. If not, we don't want them here. SECOND, PLEASE ADD EXPLICIT MONITORING AND ENFORCEMENT CLAUSES TO THE ORDINANCE FOR ALL SIZED CATEGORIES OF DATA CENTERS. I APPRECIATE THAT THE CURRENT DRAFT OF THE ORDINANCE REQUIRES COMPANIES TO SUBMIT WRITTEN PLANS FOR CLOSED-LOOP COOLING, WATER USAGE, AND MORE. HOWEVER, WE NEED SYSTEMATIC AND RIGOROUS MONITORING AND ENFORCEMENT TO MAKE SURE THAT DATA CENTERS FOLLOW THROUGH ON THEIR PROMISES. FOR THE LIFETIME OF EACH DATA CENTER, THE CITY SHOULD CONDUCT ANNUAL ENVIRONMENTAL AND SAFETY INSPECTIONS AT THE COMPANY'S EXPENSE Empty promises from tech companies are worthless when our air and water are at stake. We need codified monitoring and enforcement protocols. This moment presents an opportunity and an obligation to define Birmingham's relationship with data centers for many years to come. It's easier to draw a hard line now than to try to walk things back later. Please protect our drinking water and other precious resources against corporate greed. I thank you and our children and grandchildren will thank you too.

Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Sissel. Next speaker, please. Your name and your full address, including zip code. Thank you.

My name is David Chaplin. I live at 1802 Lancaster Road in Homewood, 35209. I'm a retired physician, and I was an allergist. I took care of people with asthma, and I'm very concerned capacity data centers. I appreciate the hard work that's gone into the ordinance as it's written, but to me, the fact that people provide information about what they anticipate their center is gonna cause and produce without very clear language in the ordinances about what limits are acceptable for the health of the community really dilutes the protection of the ordinances. I think it's crucial that we have clear language in the ordinance that make it clear that the health of the community is one of our highest principles. Thank you very much.

Thank you, Mr. Chapman. Next speaker, please. Your name and your full address.

My name is Daria Malone. I live at 413 Valley Lake Drive in Roebuck Springs, Birmingham, Alabama. And I just come to you today just as not only a fellow constituent here, but also as a human being with ethical and environmental concerns about data centers here in our beloved city. And I just want everyone to consider what happens when we as a society fly too close to the sun for convenience sake. And we're just in a place in our society where we are not even opting in on a so-called technocratic society. And these ethical concerns, these environmental concerns like our air, our water, and the noise that are happening in communities that are already suffering historically from markers of income and racial inequality and environmental neglect. And I ask you, Birmingham City Council, to not choose AI, but to choose human, for when you choose human, you choose me, you choose them, and you choose yourself. And I have concerns about how you hear the people, for there is no council without the people. So please, I ask you if Birmingham can be a part of a future that chooses human, that chooses the capabilities of the human mind, and where we can still uphold Alabama, the beautiful. Choose your constituents, not shareholders. Please choose human, for if you choose human, you are choosing a brighter and clearer and more proudly human future for all of us, and that includes you. Thank you.

Thank you, Ms. Malone. Next speaker, please. Your name and your full address. Thank you.

Good morning. My name is Katie Holmes, and I live at 605 Lisa Lane, Birmingham, Alabama, zip code 35206. I'm a resident of Roebuck Springs and also the program coordinator for Black Warrior Riverkeeper, a citizen-based nonprofit organization dedicated to improving public health, recreation, and wildlife habitat in the Black Warrior River and its tributaries. I would like to address the proposed changes to the city zoning ordinance pertaining to new data center developments. As a city resident and a representative of my organization, I urge the Birmingham City Council to keep the special exception requirement for high-scale data centers. During the April 28th City Council meeting, Mayor Woodfin and Councillor Williams expressed opposition to the special exception requirement with, as I understand it, concerns about the politicization of the process and the perception of being anti-growth. In my opinion, growth and development require due diligence during the planning process. Due diligence, in this case, requires transparency. Transparency cannot exist without having public hearings for zoning changes and variances in order to allow public participation in these major decisions, which carry significant long-term impacts for residents. To put it plainly, the special exception requirement will reduce Birmingham residents' ability to legally challenge future data center projects by limiting our role to simply receiving notice rather than participating in hearings and being heard by our elected officials. Additionally, special uses are considered to have a potentially greater impact on the public than uses permitted by right. With that in mind, I have to ask, How can we possibly be considering cutting out such a critical part of the review process? Public hearings aren't frivolous. They're integral to city planning and a cornerstone of healthy governance. Residents want to participate in the process as indicated by the turnout here today. I have lived in Birmingham for almost seven years. My love for the city and trust in our local leaders are two big reasons why I have continued to live in Birmingham. The members of this council aren't just anonymous faces in gray suits. You are our neighbors and fellow community members. I have been fortunate enough to work with some of you personally. Black Warrior Riverkeeper has regularly partnered with the city of Birmingham on community cleanups since the creation of our volunteer cleanups program in 2021. But data centers can harm our health and damage our local environment. The significant negative environmental impacts include noise pollution and air pollution from backup generators, the large volumes of water needed for cooling, and the amount of land being cleared to build these facilities. Please, keep the special exception requirement.

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you, Ms. Holmes. Next speaker, please. Your name and your full address. Thank you.

Hi. I'm Valerie Paul. Out of it, 1979, Russet Hill Lane, which is technically in Hoover. But Metro Birmingham, the city lines blur. And what one city council does impacts us all. This is way out of my comfort zone and I am terrified, but that shows you how concerned that I am. I've lived and worked in this community across city lines since I got out of college. My family works here and lives here and spins music here and goes to wonderful concerts here. There are so many things that other people have said. The special session, I agree to everything she just said. I want the city council to think about their own slogans of future Birmingham. Are we really? Are we thinking to the second and third generation? Are we thinking about the budget for next year? Because this has impact about who's gonna wanna live here and who's gonna wanna move here and who is a data center, not a data center, that's going to want to bring their industry here. We have no regulations. Oh, back up fuel cells. What are the regulations on those? And who's inspecting those in five years, in 10 years? Who's inspecting when the data center decides to move elsewhere and their stuff is just there to rot and go, you know, vacant because technology has moved on, which it does so quickly. 500 feet, 1,000 feet, as you have pointed out, noise ordinances depend on the environment and the location and the berms and the valley and whatever. Okay, so what are we doing about that? Because 500 feet clear cut is a very big difference of buffer or those little tiny spindly trees that they put up that aren't going to grow full for another 10 years. Who's monitoring that? If you mean that it's easier to enforce in a zoning commission for a noise ordinance, then go ahead and put that noise ordinance update on your agenda with a publicized date. Show everybody that it's not going to go to the bottom of the administrative pile, oops, six years from now. I encourage the council to work with other city councils in the area because data centers impact 10 and 12 and 15 and 20 mile ranges. Nashville zoo. Yeah. What about Birmingham zoo? And finally, if this data center was opening within 500 feet of your child's school or your grandchild's house, would you leave it as is? Thank you.

Thank you. Thank you, Ms. Paul. Next speaker, please. Your name and your full address. Thank you.

Good morning, members of the council. My name is Jenna Jerry Bishop, and I live at 728 9th Avenue West in Birmingham, 35204. That's District 8, Ms. Sonja Smith's representative district. This project is being presented as a limited control development, but our current ordinances contain broad, vague language that leaves the public exposed to future expansion far beyond what is being described today. Terms like ancillary equipment, operational necessity, and infrastructure adjustments create loopholes that allow a data center to grow in size in noise output, water consumption, electrical demand without returning to the public for a meaningful review. That is not theoretical. It has happened in multiple US cities where initial approvals quietly ballooned into multi-building industrial complexes. Here in Birmingham, that kind of expansion would directly threaten water availability in a region already facing stress, diesel generator emissions during mandatory testing, constant industrial noise and vibration, wildlife distribution, and habitat loss. The well-being of vulnerable animals at the new Humane Society campus, many of whom are anxious, recovering, or medically fragile. These impacts are not borne by the corporations. They're borne by residents, taxpayers, animals, and our lovely environment. Our ordinances should protect the public interest, not create a pathway for industrial escalation. If a project can expand in ways that increase noise, heat, water use, pollution, then the ordinance must contain clear and enforceable limits that prevent the expansion unless the public explicitly approves it. Right now, these protections are not in place. We deserve development that strengthens Birmingham, not the development that extracts from it. We deserve ordinances that safeguard our environment, not ones that can be bent to accommodate corporate demands. The Humane Society or any other facility built to protect life should never be placed at risk for an industrial project that offers so little benefit to Birmingham in return. I urge the council to reject this proposal or at a minimum pause it until ordinances governing data centers are rewritten with strict transparent limits that prioritize the well-being of the people, animals, and this delicate environment. I ask you to consider something more personal. If this project were placed next to your home, your children, next to your aging parents, next to the animals you love, would you feel confident that ordinances can be stretched or bent or reinterpreted after the fact? Thank you. Thank you, Ms. Bishop.

Hello City Council, my name is Ashton Kennedy and due to my status as a U.S. Congressional candidate for Alabama House District 6, I will not be publicly stating my address. I will be happy to give it to you later though if requested. First things first, my district is District 6, so when they say that a data center cannot fit in our zone, I want to remind y'all we are the richest district. Secondly, look outside to your right, Jefferson Courthouse, 500 feet away. That's not enough. Downstairs, you have a sign titled City of Birmingham Strategic Plan. Highly effective, people first, smart government. People first means listening to your constituents. And if I, as only a candidate, have people in my inbox, I know they're in yours. Secondly, people first means not taking away their right to a public hearing at any point in time. Any company that wants to come into our neighborhoods should be approved by the people. People first does not mean downplaying the data center's closed-loop system as being like an office building. We've all seen the sediment in the water. We know it's not. I know ADEM's power was pulled from Senate Bill 71 this year that was passed in three days by our Israeli-owned state legislator and governor. Your hands may be tied, but federally, ours are not. I am begging you to stall the data centers. There is a moratorium act being made by Senator Sanders, by AOC, and when I win, I fully plan to vote that in. A nationwide federal moratorium is coming and you can stop the current progress now because the legal definition of a moratorium is to suspend all. These extra data centers are not needed. I know federally our current regime is telling us that we got to keep up with China. Right now, today, America has 4,184 data centers. In second place is the United Kingdom with 515. When you look at the CEOs and who they come from and the money that runs them, we are under attack from a foreign nation making us into a surveillance state. They are poisoning us and poisoning the South for a profit. I am asking you as a federal candidate to do what you can to stall and save the people here until we can federally take our country back and get democracy away from the tech oligarchs. Thank you. Thank you, Ms. Kennedy.

Next speaker, please.

Please state your name and full address including zip code. Thank you.

Good morning. My name is Dr. Russell Johnson. My address is 412 Upper Walk Lane, Hoover, Alabama, 35216. I'm the chief medical officer of the Greater Birmingham Humane Society, and I'm responsible for the medical care of the thousands of animals that come through our door every year. I'm not here to speak to you today about any one particular project. I'm here to speak to you about the science and what this draft ordinance asks the city to take on faith. The draft treats large-scale data facilities as their own category. It gives them their own definitions, their own requirements, their own standards. That tells me facilities at this scale carry impacts and ordinary development does not. As a veterinarian, the impact I'm trained to see is the impact most people can, and that's the impact on animals. The noise studies these facilities rely on are measured in A-weighted decibels, a scale built around the average human ear. By design, it discounts the very high frequencies and vibrations we can't hear and underweighs the low frequency hums these facilities are known to produce. A dog hears more than twice as high as we do, a cat higher, both at distances further than we do. A study can report a number that looks perfectly safe to everyone in this room, while telling us almost nothing about an animal living nearby, what he actually experiences day and night with no ability to leave. That is not a small gap. In animals already under stress, chronic noise and vibration affect healing behavior, immune function, and recovery. Those are measurable medical outcomes, and nothing in this draft requires anyone to study them before approval. Here's my concern as a clinician. An earlier version of this ordinance gave the public and people like me a formal chance to raise exactly these questions in front of an independent body before a decision was made. That review has been narrowed. Excuse me, that review has been narrowed. The very expertise that could catch a problem like this has been written out of the process. At the same moment, the ordinance admits facilities deserve special handling. I'm not asking you to oppose anything. I'm asking you to put the science back in. Require studies that measure what animals and children and patients and anyone sensitive can actually hear. Give qualified people a real venue to be heard before approval, not after. Good ordinances aren't afraid of expert review. They invite it. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Jackson. Next speaker. Thank you.

My name is Alison Black-Corinne Nunez. I serve as CEO of the Greater Birmingham Humane Society. I live at 5846 Black Creek Drive, 35022. And last night, I realized my life has come full circle. I was born in Ingle Nook, and as a child, I was sexually assaulted by a trusted member of this community. More than 20 years later, I learned I was one of 60 people. But under the laws that existed then, I was the only one that could legally stop him because I was a special exception. But that exception only mattered because I was willing to stand on it and somebody was willing to fight for my rights to that special exception. Judge Theresa Pulliam did. It was highly politicized. I tell that story for one reason. When people feel threatened by something larger than themselves, they are often told the decision has already been made, that it's over, that there's nothing they can do and their voices do not matter. And sometimes those things are simply not true. Sometimes there is somebody that can and will fight for you. Today's draft ordinance matters. Birmingham told the public it would reflect the best practices of communities like Loudoun County and others that spent years learning how to regulate hyperscale data centers. Instead, this draft removed the special exception, the very step that gave the public the right to be heard before projects of this scale moved forward. Loudoun strengthened it, tightened it. And I know something about how important special exceptions are because it was one. An exception is only worth something if someone's willing to stand up for it. Long before any of us sat in this room, the people who planned Oxmoor created master plans, adopted standards, and recorded covenants. All of those documents runs the same idea that the community is more than land, it's livability. As the city, the county, USX, and the Metropolitan Development Board gave their word to make Oxmoor livable for families, children, schools, businesses, churches, parks, and neighbors. Each of these people matter, and that is why removing the special exception matters. It was not a prohibition. It was not anti-business. I'm not here to ask you to stop technology. I'm asking you to restore the special exception and the public review that comes with it. and to remember the principles that built this community. Transparency, compatibility, honesty, social justice, stewardship, and accountability. To the people of the Oxmoor Valley, I want to say this to you. Do not give up. Do not assume the outcome is inevitable. Do not assume your voice no longer matters. As long as UBHS is a member of the Oxmoor Corporate Parking Canon Act, we will continue to stand on the promises, the principles, and the rule of law that shape this valley. And I hope it is not so, but we may be the only ones that can enforce the covenants and ensure you get some form of special exception. Because the day citizens can no longer rely on the promises made to them, And their right to be heard before these promises are changed is the day every community in Birmingham becomes vulnerable. And if that day comes, Oxmoor will not be the last community to lose its rights. It will just be the first.

Thank you, Ms. Cornelius. Next speaker, please. Please state your name and your full address, including zip code. Thank you.

Hi, my name is Jessie Bunton. I am a homeowner at 637 Lisa Lane in Roebuck Springs, zip code 35206. I'm going to admit, I didn't have a lot of knowledge about data centers and the impact when I came to this meeting. I've heard a lot of bad things, hadn't heard a lot of good. Honestly blown away that there's so few protections From the residents here for the residents here here in my town where I'm from where I own a home and We're gonna limit public impact. We're gonna impact we're gonna limit What people can say when they'll be notified that seems really really LIKE A BAD IDEA. AND I MEAN, JUST PEOPLE BEING NOTIFIED IN A REASONABLE AREA AROUND A DATA CENTER IS SOMETHING WERE TO CHANGE OR THAT WHAT IS COMING TO WHERE THEY'RE FROM. 500 FEET IS NOTHING. IT'S NOTHING. FROM THE FRONT DOOR HERE TO THE FRONT DOOR OF THE JEFFERSON COUNTY COURTHOUSE IS .9 MILES. Less than, I think it's 100 feet or 1,000 feet. I mean, I apologize. I was Googling just a moment ago. 500 feet, I can see it with the naked eye. When you're looking through a neighborhood, that's like two blocks. That's nothing. And we're only going to let that many people even know? This is the chance we have to set these policies in effect that are going to affect our entire community, our entire city for years and years and years to come. We have the chance right now to make those precautions, to put those policies in place to keep things tight, to make sure that we're not leaving loopholes for people to exploit us with, which anyone from Birmingham knows there's always a loophole. There's always a way to get something in, to get something done if it's going to make a buck down the road. And we've dealt with the repercussions from it for years, for decades. How many Superfund sites do we have in this city? I just wanted to give my thoughts on the matter. I hope you all have a wonderful day.

Thank you, Ms. Pleasant. Next speaker, please. Please state your name and your full address, including zip code. Thank you.

Melody McGuire. I live at 4533 Guilford Circle, Birmingham 35242. So I've come today to ask you to reject the current draft and take into effect of what you've seen, you've heard, and you've learned from today and make it an opportunity just to do better and give our community a little additional time for these studies to be done. Thank you.

Thank you, Ms. McGuire. Next speaker, please.

Name and your full address, thank you. Hi, my name is Lisa Brennan. I live at 1833 Lake Ridge Road, Homewood, Alabama. I had not planned on being here today. I'm dressed for work, I was headed to work, but I felt like this was important enough to me, so I don't have anything eloquently planned And I want to thank you guys for letting me be here because that's the number one thing I want to make sure and plea with you today is that moving forward, you continue to allow us to have this voice. I didn't know about this meeting until two days ago and I know there would be hundreds, maybe thousands more here to voice their opinions about this and how they're against things that we're trying to do with the data centers. But unfortunately, people have to work. I have the ability to kind of sneak away and stress my concerns over what's happening in our communities. And so my biggest plea is that moving forward, you continue to allow us to have this right with these data centers. But also want to ask you, because the presentation they did was wonderful, I'm thinking, oh, that sounds great, right? But where are the examples of specifically the water usage. They mentioned that the Of course, I forget the word, but it was the continuous loop water usage that was similar to other buildings that size. What other data centers have been placed in other cities that have that example? Also, our energy. We just we want to ask to have oversight into this. Is there someone already planned to to manage this from the city's perspective and say, hey, this is what you promised. This is what you committed. and make sure that those commitments are being met. And just to stress what my peers have said before me, the concerns about the noise ordinance. I grew up in a small town off the Tennessee River in North Alabama. and we had plants all along the Tennessee River, so I know what noise pollution does 5 to 10 miles from there. You lay in bed at night and you hear humming. And I live close enough to the Lakeshore facility that we will be affected by that, especially in the winter months when the trees are down. So I just beg, I plea to you, and I thank you for this opportunity, but I plea that you take all these things into consideration. Make sure there's someone checking on these projects and not allowing it. And then I also plead that we don't allow any other of these data centers in our communities. We have one, let's make sure we do it right, and then let's make sure we follow through with our communities, because I didn't know about all this until someone shared it with me. So make sure we're sharing this. Put it on your social media platform, put it on the news, and make sure we're doing checks and balances moving forward, that we are telling the people, hey, this is what we committed, And here's where we are. I love the person earlier that said, let's take air quality before and after. Let's look at the soil. Let's look at the noise so that we have a baseline. Give us that, please. That's what we're begging. Thank you.

Thank you very much. All right. Next speaker, please.

Hi, I'm Steven Collins. I live at 4415 Claremont Avenue South, which is actually in a historic designation. So I don't guess AEI or a data center supporting that would necessarily make its way into my neighborhood. That kind of makes me think what an arbitrary value to codify. I'm here thinking about also residents, human beings that live in other districts and neighborhoods and just kind of want to speak on our whole city's behalf. I've been a part in this city of so many educational initiatives, developed workforce initiatives in this city and part of music, arts and culture, nonprofits and development. And those have all been really successful and amazing because And every step of the way, we've listened to the residents, have worked intimately to understand different narratives, know well the livelihoods of those residents in all these different neighborhoods. And that's what's brought that work into fruition. look at a process, I always remember the medium is the message. It's not what we do, it's how we do it. If we want to remove human voice or residents' opinions from something, I'll just say it this way. When we listen to each other and we build processes based on each other's experiences, something beautiful happens. That's what makes this city worth living in. So I would recommend that public hearings not be truncated in any way, but that we are allowed to be more involved in the process. In fact, right now, this process, I would recommend that we just completely strike any development of data centers from the books because this level of change, this scale of industry. We don't have a process right now that's sufficient to actually understand it and consider all the implications, much less listen to the residents whom it will most intimately affect. So my suggestion is that we suspend anything until we design a process or make the medium the message. We're listening to each other. We're building something together. And maybe we're making this a little too complicated, because I think that if we had more of a vote in where these or if these were built, it'd be much more simple. And just raise your hand if you want to live next to a data center. Raise your hand. I think we all know what the right thing to do is.

Thank you, Mr. Collins. Next speaker, please. Your name, your full address, zip code. Thank you.

I'M PRESIDENT OF THE SOUTH SIDE NEIGHBORHOOD ASSOCIATION. ON A TECHNICAL NOTE, I'LL SAY SALM TRAVELS FARTHER AT NIGHT BECAUSE OF THE COLD TEMPERATURE ALSO IN THE WINTER. SO IT'S NOT JUST TREES AND FOLIAGE THAT CAUSES SALM TRANSMISSION. I HAVE TO SPEAK SINCE LAST TIME. THERE'S BEEN A COUPLE OF DEVELOPMENTS. The data centers have been shown to produce high heat output, and all of a sudden, all of the climate change people are silent on this. So the data centers are contributing to the climate change, and everybody all of a sudden seems to forget, oh, it's the automobile or the cows eating too much grass or something like that. So this is a very odd thing. The second thing is residents in other states that live nearby them they've been having their property seized through intimate domain in order to make room for the data centers. And in some states, water has been cut off to residents so it could be supplied to data centers. And out west, I forget which state, Washington, Oregon, residents out there are being told to find your own sources of electricity because electricity from the power company is going to go to the data center. So I see several bigger issues that need to be solved in here. I would suggest first off not passing this today to give more time to go over this. ordinance and look at more safeguards. And I would also like to point out that there's a lot of civil liberties that go along with this. Here in China, they use data centers through use of social credit system. And people, there's a whole class of people now that have lost out on that and they're homeless in the streets because an algorithm said that they didn't match up on some numbers. and things. And oddly, they decided, the Chinese decided to call their system Skynet, which if you're familiar with the science fiction franchise Terminator movies, that's a very ominous warning to me right there. So, thank you. Thank you, Mr. Godley.

Next speaker, please. Your name, address, zip code. Thank you.

Hi, my name is Elizabeth Castro, and my address is 2622 Kemp Court, Birmingham, Alabama, 35, I'm forgetting, 35266, I don't know. i was concerned i've had concerns i've been at the other meetings and when i was at the zoning meeting and you could talk to everyone i did post the questions hey like what if the noise is too loud for residents? What do we do? And the lady was saying, well, you can call 311, you can report it. And I said, report to who? And she was saying, well, I don't know the local noise audience. And I was saying, I don't know who my noise audience is. I'm a resident, like I'm not a business. And how do I know if they're too loud? And she was saying, well, you just call that and the local person will tell you you have to file a complaint. Who is the oversight in this? So I said, would this go to a non-emergency Homewood police there? And she said, possibly. Now, can the police... you know, can they come out and say whether this is too loud for residents? And she was saying, I don't know. So what everybody here is saying, we have questions. The same, I had questions about water and pollution runoff from these, say, machines that break And I was saying, who do, if I have a concern, who do I address these to? Well, the city. So in 311. So the operator is going to have to decide for the data center complaints which city person is going to handle this. Do you have time? I mean, really, do each of you and all the government workers have time to do this on your current job? Like, It looks good with whatever windfall of money you think you're gonna get, but really, if it's gonna tax the systems, who's going to police all this stuff? And then residents not having a voice. That's my American right. And I don't like that. I have never been here except for the data centers. I'm neurodivergent. I work from home. I am not around people a lot. This is forcing me to come out. So if you want to get my attention, just tell me that I can't speak.

Thank you, Ms. Castro. Next speaker, please. Name, address, zip code.

Good afternoon, councilmen and women, Mr. Mayor. My name is Andrew Parker. I live at 415 Cherry Street, 35213. This is my first time here today, but I'm here to say to you that I think it's pretty widely agreed upon, at least amongst all of us back here, that there's almost no gain to data centers coming to our city. I mean, they only provide maybe 10 permanent jobs in security roles Very little financial development. And technology is going to, it's estimated to pass them in 15 to 20 years anyway. So these buildings will be obsolete, you know, in two decades. So it's my belief that, you know, while we can't directly prevent these centers from coming to Birmingham, we should be as unwelcoming as possible because, you know, Like for example, why are we keeping them 500 feet away instead of 1,000? I think we should start out as unwelcoming as possible, and then if we have to concede, I mean, I guess we have to. But yes, I've spent my entire life in Birmingham. I'd like to raise my kids here. I'd like them to raise my grandkids here, and that's not looking like an option if it's gonna be a data center alley. So please consider harsher regulations on incoming data centers because there's almost no gain and nobody wants them here. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Parker.

Next speaker, please. Name, address, and zip code.

Good afternoon now. I'M JONATHAN LANDUM. I LIVE IN DISTRICT 3, 1120 BEACON PARKWAY EAST, 35209. I WANT TO APPLAUD AND THANK THE COUNCIL FOR BEING PROACTIVE AND LAYING A FOUNDATION IN REGULATING A DESTRUCTIVE INDUSTRY BUBBLE. HOWEVER, I FEEL THIS VERSION OF THE LEGISLATION DOES NOT GO QUITE FAR ENOUGH. While there are other issues that others have spoken to and no doubt will speak to, in my mind there are three key things that need to be addressed. Transparency, specificity, and accountability. First and foremost, transparency and public participation. So many people who have to work for a living, myself included, took off today to be here. to participate in democracy. As Councilor Vassa said, it's a beautiful thing, but it doesn't need to end here. These industrial developments need to include input from the community, including well-publicized, not just to people within 500 feet of it, which, as others have said, is not a long way, less than a tenth of a mile, public comment, public hearings, and crucially, maintaining the special inspection standard for zoning. To eliminate public input from projects like this is nothing short of anti-democratic. Second, we need more specific regulations regarding sound levels, water usage, and heat emission if we're going to bring these extractive eyesores to our city. Weeks ago, I sat in this room and watched executives of an unnamed company lied to the zoning board, stating that the noise study they had presented, which was an inappropriate study, one that did not weight the relevant frequencies, meant their center would not produce excessive infrasound. Only through Philip Foster's personal knowledge was that lie even challenged. This is exactly why we need specific expert-derived and reviewed tests and benchmark requirements for sound, water use, and heat generation, among other impacts to the surrounding community. We cannot rely on industry to regulate itself. The gentleman who presented hand waved about noise being hard to measure, the seasons and weather affected. But the fact is, it's complicated, but in no way too complicated to accomplish. Turns out there's people whose job is to do just that. And finally, on that note, accountability. We need mandated compulsory enforcement. It should not be at the discretion of the executive branch. whether or not to enforce the council's ordinances. We as a community should not have to wait for large out-of-state corporations to harm us, then commission studies on our own dime to prove it, then beg the city to help us. We need and expect regular monitoring of all these parameters, unannounced compulsory audits and mandatory expensive shutdowns until resolved if these industries fail to comply with the laws of our community.

Thank you, Mr. Lennon.

Thank you.

Appreciate it. Next speaker, please. Name, address, zip code. Thank you.

Good afternoon. My name is Dana Ulrich. My zip code is 35213. I was born in Birmingham. I work in Birmingham. My husband owns a business in Birmingham and our son attends school in Birmingham. Mayor Woodfin, I've had the pleasure of voting for you three times. Councilors Williams and O'Quinn, I've also voted for you in the past. I'm speaking today to express concern over the financial burden that my family will face due to increased power and utility bills that we know come with these large-scale data centers. What concrete, tangible steps is the city taking to offset the inevitable hike in power and utility costs that will impact your constituents? What impact studies have been done and made available to the public that assess the economic effect these data centers will have on your residents and constituents? The current ordinance draft only asks that centers make note of rate changes. This does nothing to protect your citizens. Please clearly address this issue before finalizing the ordinance. Thank you.

Thank you, Ms. Hillrich. I'm going to hand the hearing over to my co-chair, Councilor O'Quinn, to take a quick break. Next speaker, you're welcome to come up. I'll be right back. Thank you. Next speaker, you can come up.

Yes. As you approach the lectern, please remember to state your name and address. You have three minutes.

Hi, I'm Lauren Brokaw, and I'm a socially anxious shut-in who cannot drive, and I am not a gifted speaker. I have a small lesion on my right temporal lobe that makes my speech patterns choppy, but I'm here because... I am so terrified that I'm going to have to sell my home as soon as possible before it's too late because, as someone else pointed out, nobody wants to live next to a Dana Center. And I also wanted to mention, considering the fact that 69 jurisdictions across the U.S. have blocked new construction on, like, really large data centers. And four have made it permanent. And Erin Brockovich, she's a real person. My brother-in-law didn't know she was a real person, but she's a real person. And she's been collecting a database on these data centers. And considering all of that, it seems extremely important to take an extreme amount of caution. when approaching this technology and understanding the impacts that it can have on people. And I just, I don't know, I'm really hoping that I can trust those in charge to offer the right amount of transparency and honesty. really consider what's best for their constituents and prioritize people over profit. Because I really would prefer for y'all not to be the villains in the Lifetime movie that's made about this nonsense in 20 years. But I also, I really would like to know if it's possible for us to be given information about what exactly is the benefit that these AI dentists are providing that we're willing to risk the possible harmful effects to health over because it doesn't really seem worth it given what we've seen data centers have been doing. Like AI has been like miscalculating inventories at Starbucks and locking engineers out of Microsoft cloud code. And I would like to know exactly what benefits does this technology offer? What benefits do people stand to gain in the vicinity of these centers that they're being asked to risk their own health for potentially? Yeah, that's all.

Thank you.

Good afternoon. My name is Ryan Anderson, and I'm a staff attorney at the Southern Environmental Law Center. Our address is 2829 2nd Avenue South, 35233. And first of all, I want to give a shout out to all of the residents and citizens that showed up here today. Hundreds of people standing outside in the heat waiting to get in and make their voice heard, and sitting down in the cafeteria together, comparing notes, watching you all through this deliberative process has been really a joy because this is what democracy looks like. And it looks pretty good to me. So what you are doing now has become a model for cities across the Southeast. By putting a pause on data center applications, engaging residents and other stakeholders in the process, and then putting meaningful guardrails on future development, that is a step forward, but it is time to stick the landing. This iterative process has led to a draft ordinance that contains numerous meaningful protections. For example, by prohibiting data centers from operating dirty power plants in our backyards, Birmingham residents will be able to breathe a bit easier when future developers come to town. But we're back here today because of one important requirement, the special exception requirement. This is critical because it gives residents a voice in data center development and it also prevents the city from unintentionally hamstringing itself to a one size fits all approach to data centers. Municipalities across the southeast have not hesitated to include data centers as a use that requires a special exception. Locally, Columbiana, Athens, and Hoover have all decided to require a special exception for data centers. a process with built-in mechanisms for public involvement. As one Hoover City Councilor put it, that's front and center. What does the public feel about it? How do they feel about it coming to their city? Birmingham residents deserve the same. We deserve to have a voice in data center development in our city, and we deserve to have a seat at the same table that big tech does, because these decisions influence the places where we live, work, and play. Please add the special exception requirement back into this ordinance before you pass it. Thank you.

Thank you very much. Next speaker, please. Thank you. Your name, address, zip code, thank you.

Hi, my name is Jessica Stott. I live at 925 Shades Glen Drive, 35226. I am just here because I want to take a second to address the presentation that we were given this morning regarding the 20 requirements of the ordinance. Did we not hear them say during that presentation that they're still realizing all of the errors and things that, edits that need to be made in this ordinance for things like the noise level? My question is when do these revisions get made and then when do those revisions get enforced? I think it sounds really good to have the rule that all centers have to meet all 20 of these requirements. But the requirements in the ordinance are still undefined or still under draft. So as several people before me have mentioned, who's going to enforce those 20 rules? What are those repercussions going to be for when these corporations break those rules? Because that's what corporations do. And who is going to sort of like, I don't know, make sure that doesn't happen. The ethics regarding the data center that is being built in my backyard are already being litigated, so I'm going to leave that alone. But I want to take this opportunity to remind all of you in front of me, historically speaking, both the Birmingham mayor and city council have a terrible reputation for corruption. I want to just remind you all that this ordinance is a great opportunity to show everyone here, everyone at home that couldn't be here today, that you do stand on the side of the people and the residents in this city and not just on the side of foreign corporations. Thank you.

Thank you, Ms. Scott. Speaker, thank you.

Hi, yes, my name is Stephanie Salvego. I am getting a spam call. I live at 2704 Hanover Circle, Birmingham, Alabama, 35205. And I want to walk through what the community is being asked to accept as protection. The setbacks protect certain homes at 500 feet and certain transit facilities at 1,000 feet. They do not clearly protect institutional neighbors like daycare centers, daycare for adults and children with special needs, medical facilities, schools, nonprofits, facilities that keep animals overnight, and the notification requirement, again, is only 500 feet. That means this ordinance could notify one property owner and leave everyone else that is affected completely in the dark. The cooling is described as closed loop, but closed loop cooling is a water answer to a noise question. The heat from a 300 megawatt facility still has to go somewhere. It leaves through mechanical cooling equipment and fan arrays that can run day and night. That is not a mitigation of our concern. that is the source of it. And the noise plan appears to wall off generators and run occasionally while leaving the cooling fans that may run continuously without a clear enforceable standard for the low frequency or tonal noise that children, adults with special needs and animals may be especially sensitive to. But here is the common thread. Every one of these protections depends too heavily on the developer, the developer's consultants, the developer's study, the developer's definition of compliance. There's no required independent review, no required third-party monitoring, no required independent entity checking the applicant's homework before the public is asked to trust the result. That is exactly why special exception review matters, and that is exactly why removing or limiting project-specific public review leaves this community with promises and no way to verify them. Please strengthen this ordinance before you adopt it.

Liam McElroy, I reside at 1600 13th Street South, Birmingham, Alabama. South Fultondale, Bessemer, Memphis. What do all of these communities have in common? They are minority, lower income communities that are being targeted by these data centers. This is not just a whole, you know, about noise and all this. This is about systematic oppression that is coming from corporate greed that this city is trying to get past hearing the people's voice suppressing these voices. which is unacceptable. Birmingham, as a city, has had a long history of suppressing voices, but it's also had a long history of building people up. Which chapter do you want to find yourself in the books of? Do you want to find yourself in the books of a chapter that is talked down upon, or do you want to find yourself in the books, or in the chapter of the books that is talked about and liked? We need the special exemption back added to this bill, not bill, so that the communities can have their engagement with this, so that they can have their voice be heard. We do not need another sloss furnace. Sloss furnace sounds, oh, it's real cool. It took advantage of so many people for decades. Anyone that knows the real history of that place knows that place was a horrid nightmare. We do not need another one of those. Thank you.

Thank you very much. Next speaker, please. Name, address, zip code.

Thank you. My name is Charles Miller. I'm a resident of Highland Park, and I'm the policy director for the Alabama Rivers Alliance. Our address is 4439 Fifth Avenue South, Birmingham. And we're a statewide nonprofit dedicated to protecting Alabama's 132,000 miles of rivers and streams through building partnerships, empowering citizens, and advocating for sound water policy and its enforcement. First, I want to commend the council for considering this ordinance. These provisions relating to water are incredibly important because we as a state are at a severe disadvantage when it comes to properly siting data centers. Our state's water law is trapped in the 18th century with no way to resolve disputes among different water users and no way to effectively allocate water or conserve water during times of drought. The required provisions for disclosure of water use, closed-loop systems, water conservation and efficiency planning for hyperscale data centers are all admirable steps towards ensuring that data center water use does not impact our neighbors, including those that may not live in the city. The requirements to abide by stormwater regulations and ordinary pretreatment regulations are also an important step. But we do agree with the majority of the people who have spoken here today that the special exception requirement that gives citizens a voice in this process is incredibly, incredibly important. I know that this council and the planning department has worked diligently on this ordinance, and I know that we're kind of running up against the clock when it comes to the moratorium. But I believe that if we want to see a durable ordinance, it has to include some element of public participation, and I believe that our city can do that. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Miller. Next speaker, please. Name, address, zip code, please.

Hello, my name is David Marshall. I'm a resident of 1316 Larry Lane, Birmingham, Alabama. I have a few comments with respect to the proposed ordinance as it relates to data centers, specifically provisions of Section 5 dealing with the proposed amendments to Section 7 related to hyperscale data center at pages 42 through 45. The ordinance appears to recognize the potential environmental hazards the data centers present, especially with regard to water. A single data center consumes up to 5 million gallons of water each day. The wastewater contains toxic harmful to drinking water and aquatic life. The ordinance appears to require detailed plans for water usage and waste treatment. Hopefully, the city's engineers will be extremely diligent and strict in imposing the appropriate safeguards once they have received the detailed plans anticipated by the ordinance. However, I am here to suggest strongly that the proposed 500-foot separation from a residential zone is far too close to protect the residents. Data centers utilize lithium-ion batteries, which are classified a hazmat risk. In 2025, a data center fire involving lithium ion batteries in Hillsborough, Oregon, burned for five hours, emitting dangerous toxic smoke that resisted every fire suppression utilized. Also in 2025, a data center fire in Moss Landing, California, required the evacuation of 1500 residents. An EPA administrator following a two-week battery fire in San Diego commented that he was alarmed by the impacts on first responders exposed to horrible toxic conditions Documented lithium ion batteries fires have increased from 359 in 2023 to 543 in 2024. Most local fire departments, including ours in Birmingham, are not trained for the toxic conditions of a lithium battery fire. Accordingly, I believe 500 feet is not acceptable for this type of facility in a civilized community anywhere in this nation in the event of a battery fire at the data center. Now you are wanting to allow these data centers and companies to build and destroy our towns and our cities because they don't want it next to them? What are we doing to put out these fires? We are prone to tornadoes, which a lot of times when they hit a gas line or power wires cause fires. Finally, I would like to see the special use exception to stay in the data ordinance, data center ordinance. Also, I wrote an article that was published by alpolitics.com, and I would like to hand that out to you all for you all to read later. Thank you so much for listening.

Thank you, Mr. Marshall. Next speaker, please. Name, address, zip code. Thank you.

Good afternoon, I'm Keith Williams. I am the co-founder of Voters Legal Justice Watch Group, which is located at 1601 Fifth Avenue North, Suite 266, Birmingham 35203. and I am an independent candidate for Alabama House District 55, which is nestled in a hotbed for data centers in the state of Alabama. I support responsible economic development. I support innovation. I support Birmingham being competitive in attracting new industries and investment opportunities. However, economic development and public protection must move forward together. Over the past several weeks, residents, community organizations, environmental advocates, neighborhood leaders, and other stakeholders have submitted recommendations regarding this proposed data center ordinance. Many of these recommendations were not intended to stop development. They were intended to ensure that development occurs responsibly, transparently, and with the adequate protections for the people who live there. One concern I heard repeatedly is whether the public recommendations will actually be considered as part of the final ordinance. Among the recommendations submitted were proposed to establish a minimum 1,000 foot buffer between data centers and residential areas, enhanced noise mitigation requirements, stronger communication, community notification procedures, and opportunities for residents to voice their concerns before a new data center is approved or for an existing facility significantly expands its operations. These are not unreasonable requests. Residents deserve to know what is being built near their homes. They deserve to understand potential impacts on noise, traffic, infrastructure, water resources, and energy demands. They deserve an opportunity to participate in the decision-making process before major developments move forward. I also continue to encourage the council to consider stronger transparency and accountability measures, including public reporting, community impact assessments, annual compliance reviews, public complaints procedures, environmental monitoring, and meaningful enforcement mechanisms when violations occurs. The question before us is not whether Birmingham should welcome innovation. The question is whether Birmingham will establish the safeguards necessary to ensure that innovation serves both industry and residents. I respectfully ask the council to carefully review the recommendations submitted by residents and organizations and to ensure that transparency, accountability, public participation, and neighborhood protections remain central to this ordinance. Thank you, Mr. Williams. Oh, one more thing. If it's not being done here, I advocate on a state level. to do what this council would not do. Thank you. Thank you, sir.

Next speaker, please. Please state your name, address, and zip code. Thank you.

Good afternoon, everyone. My name is Elisha Williams, and I currently live at 4308 Fifth Avenue South, Birmingham, Alabama, 35222. I am here today just to impact the hearts of our leaders. I just now am getting back on my feet after a seven-month hospitalization at UAB. During this time of healing, I have taken it upon myself to get to know my community in a better way by participating in programs like the ACE program and joining junior councils and making entertaining yet tasteful videos about our local community. I'm saying that to say I have had the pleasure of working in intergenerational programming for a radical take justice organization and could talk about everything that my fellow citizens has covered today. But I stand before you today as someone who was born in Birmingham and born into a city that already carried the fingerprints of those who came before me. I believe that the progress should never come at the expense of the people who call this city our home and our loved ones who have paved the way for us before today. When I drive through our neighborhoods, I don't see roads and buildings. I see stories. I see my friends and neighbors enjoying fishing at our local parks, picking fresh fruit at our farmers markets, and just us coming together to laugh, dance, and share food at local mom and pop shops that are now known globally. We didn't need artificial intelligence to make that happen. It's just the heart of Birmingham and a city that endured hardship, loss, change, and still found a way to keep its soul. And some places, they are valuable because they can build because of what they can build. But Birmingham, we never needed that. Birmingham is valuable because of what has already been built here. our community, our culture, history, and its people. Progress should not require us to forget who we are. When future generations ask what we did with this city, I hope our answer is not that we traded away pieces of its character in pursuit of becoming the next big thing. I hope we can say that we were thoughtful, that we listened, that we protected the stories that are Sorry, Tony. Okay. That we are already being muted for and protected the city that Birmingham is. This is special. This is our home. It's not a testing ground. It's not a bargaining chip. It's not a blank space on a map waiting to be transformed by the biggest builder. The burden of uncertainty should never fall on the people. This is our home and our home is worth protecting. Thank you.

Thank you, Ms. Williams. Next speaker, please. Please state your name, address, and zip code. Thank you.

Hello, I'm Cheryl Lewis. I live at 3369 Chandler Way in Hoover, zip code 35226, and I'm less than three miles from the location of this proposed data center.

And ma'am, you know, the public hearing today is about the data center ordinance, not specifically anyone.

Yes. I'm a realtor with REMAX Advantage. And as a realtor, you know, the health and safety is paramount. We have to take CEU courses on it. We have to every transaction. Health and safety is paramount. a preeminent. And so since realtors have a fiduciary responsibility to their clients for health and safety, how much more so do y'all as elected officials carry that burden every day with the decisions that you have to make? And I respect you and thank you for allowing us to have this public comment. We heard this morning that a noise study will be conducted. There were no definitions provided for that regarding like they said there would be an independent tester. They didn't say OSHA standards. We have government noise standards. We have local noise standards. They should have said a definition. So I'm encouraging y'all to make sure whatever final thing is produced has some kind of decibel, an actual noise number or figure. Because it's very well known with neuroscience and human body what noise levels affect So if there are people, like I have a stepson that has special needs, and is he going to be affected by this constant 24-7, it could be at a high frequency, which may affect birds and animals, not necessarily humans, but we really don't know with special needs how that is going to affect it, and how many special needs people live within a three mile or six mile or ten mile radius of this. So it's just things to be considered when a major decision like this is being made. This is also going to affect the home values, the value of my home, which is our major investment. My husband's retired, and people who are retired, things on a fixed income, if their water bill goes up, their electric bill goes up, these things are fixed. And it's going to affect the people on fixed income more than it affects other people. So we have to think about the total effect of this project, not just what it's bringing in. And so it made me ask myself in my mind, if I were gonna build something that might be potentially dangerous to animals or to people, why not, you know, build it way out in the middle of nowhere, right? You could just build it out there and then nobody's affected, right? It can be electronically sent, you know, that would be easy. But I think, could it be for cost shifting? Oh, I'm sorry, my time is up. Thank you very much. Thank you so much.

Thank you. Please state your name, address, zip code. Thank you.

Good afternoon, everyone, Mayor Woodfin, City Council, and everyone. I'm Julianne Tharp, the Field and Advocacy Fellow at GASP, the Greater Birmingham Alliance to Stop Pollution, at 2320 Highland Avenue, Suite 270 in Birmingham, 35205. On March 3rd, you approved a 180-day temporary suspension on data center proposals so that you, the Planning, Engineering, and Permitting Department could ensure proper research, and community input was gathered before establishing a data center ordinance. Thank you again for taking that step. But it's only June, halfway through the allotted six-month suspension, and there is still more work to do on this ordinance to truly incorporate best practices and not make the same mistakes other cities have made at the expense of its citizens. We cannot rush this process and end the temporary suspension yet. The purpose of a public hearing such as this one is to hear directly from the citizens you serve and I thank you for this opportunity. We're all watching and hoping for you to make the right decision, which is to listen to your constituents and work with them to truly build a better Birmingham so all families and neighborhoods and businesses can thrive. I am so proud of the Birmingham I've seen today that shows up for each other. As an environmental justice organization that focuses on clean air and healthy communities, gas is particularly concerned about the lack of air pollution protections in the ordinance. First, we should be increasing the setback distance between data centers and neighborhood properties, not decreasing them and maintaining a distance of at least a thousand feet, even if the residential or urban neighborhood district requires less than that. Next, we should be limiting air pollution potential by promoting the use of solar or propane generators and limiting the regular generator testing to no more than two generators at a time. This is crucial to protect public health because we should strive to improve our air quality, not make it worse by adding particulate matter and nitrogen oxides from diesel backup generators. And lastly, we should be keeping the special exception requirement that allows public input before a hyperscale data center could be approved and mixed use and light industrial areas. Now that would really mean putting people first, not profit. As someone who chooses to call Birmingham home and as a mother trying to teach her 18 month old daughter that her voice matters and that she should grow up in Birmingham because we trust our democratic government, I strongly implore you not to approve this ordinance as it's currently written and to make the changes previously mentioned.

Thank you so much, Ms. Clark. Next speaker, thank you.

Mayor, good to see you today. Counselors, good to see you. I live in Josh's district, 33809 12th Court South, 35222. I want to make some suggestions here. It was good to see the presentation of what you Say your name, please, sir. I'm sorry? State your name, please, sir. Oh, I'm sorry. Tony Patel. Thank you. I'm here today to ask the presentation that you had today to make some recommendations on it. First and foremost, on the special use. These facilities are so big and they're so different all over the country. There's so many different ones. the public needs to be aware of what they're planning to put in their area. And I think it's very important that you keep the special use exception in your proposal. Also on the 500 feet, in order to have a ABC retail store, liquor store, you need a thousand foot separation from residents. And on ABC store, some of those stores are less than 3,000 square feet, but they require 1,000 feet from any resident. On the noise, the closed-loop system is a good system. I think it's a good system, but there's a tradeoff. You have noise. In order to coo that water, you have to have these giant fans that coo the water. And so... There needs to be in your proposal what is allowable on the noise from these giant fans to cool the water. Also, on these generators, some of these facilities have 30, 40 generators on site. If the EPA requires 100 hours of testing on those generators, You're talking about thousands of hours for those generators to run in that neighborhood, and that whatever they have as far as the generators needs to be the best that there is. Then lastly, this is a very complex issue, and the public needs to be aware of it, and the neighborhoods need to be aware of it. Thank you for allowing me to visit with you today.

Thank you, Mr. Patelis. Next speaker, please. Please state your name, address, and zip code.

Good afternoon. Counselor Mayor Jason Freeman, 1613 2nd Street South, Birmingham 35205 South Titusville Neighborhood Association President. I came here today because I'm going to be quite honest. I'm not 100% against data centers. I'd be disingenuous if I said that D.C. Block was a poor neighbor. Anybody knows about D.C. Block? They're a wonderful company in the Titusville neighborhood. However, this is a little bit different. I'm a little bit concerned because I've grown to love Oxmoor Valley as a resident as well as an employee at Evonik Industries. And I think that this data center, I want to say thank you for the moratorium, but we need to go a little bit further as far as studies, because Oxmoor Valley is a beautiful area with natural lakes, natural land. And to be honest, I am totally invested in this city as a neighborhood officer, as well as a citizen. And I believe that Oxmoor Valley is a fertile area for not only residential development, but other developmental as well. And as the real estate agent before me went ahead and said that if we put that data center in there, I feel like it will be a divestment from that area. So I looked at Monterey Park, California recently, and I see where, like Birmingham, they had a moratorium on But a little bit differently is they put basically on the ballot an approval for to vote on it. So I think that putting it before the citizens, allowing them to make a decision would be great. So if you could take a chance to look at Monterey Park's ordinance, I think that would be a great model to follow for this city. So I know y'all have heard everything so far, so I'll be real brief. I just want to thank y'all again for that moratorium and to consider what I think about as far as District 7, Oxmoor Valley, and what it could be if we don't do this data center. All right. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Freeman.

Next speaker, please. Please state your name, address, and zip code.

Thank you. My name is Robert Du Bois. I live at 3467 Mossbrook Lane, 35243. I read the ordinance that's proposed and being voted on today. And in general, I think it's a very, very good step. And I'd like to take just a second to commend you for your patience and celebrate what we're seeing here today, which is democracy at work. But there is some red letters in this ordinance that I've learned that have been added and some things removed. And what those particular things have been added and removed for is to specifically reduce transparency and the public's involvement in data centers, specifically, but in general, I think that everybody in this room would agree that it's a terrible idea to reduce the public's involvement in what happens in public. As they say, and I wish it was always true, democracy dies in darkness.

Thank you, Mr. Devine. Oh, I'm so sorry. Before the next speaker, Pro Tem Tate has a quick announcement.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman, co-chairman. Today's public safety meeting will still be held today at 1 o'clock. We're just going to meet in conference room D and E. So public safety will still convene at 1. Today we'll just be in conference room D and E. Thank you, Pro Tem.

All right, next speaker. Thank you.

My name is Judy Morton. I live at 2329 Hawkesbury Lane. That's in the 35226 zip code of Birmingham. We have enjoyed 45 years of our life in that home and raised our daughter. We plan to retire and remain in that home in our beloved Bluff Park community. But what happens in Oxmoor Valley comes up that hill into Bluff Park. It affects us tremendously.

Just a reminder, Ms. Morton, that we're here today to talk about the data center ordinance.

I have a very personal concern about how that AI factory is going to affect my home in Bluff Park. You see where both my husband and I are 69 years old. We're in that stage of life where we are making plans for retirement and he retires in less than a year and we're making plans for end of life and our state and what we will leave to our daughter. Our plan was that our home and property would be her inheritance. And I wonder at this point, do we need to make a new plan? Do I need to put a for sale sign up in front of my house and cut my losses now? Or are y'all going to step in and protect the people so that I don't have to do that? I would really prefer to end my retirement and our remaining years in our home in Bluff Park. I don't want to have to leave. And I'm counting on y'all to do what needs to be done. Please include that special exception requirement and the protections that need to be in place for the people. Thank you.

Thank you, Ms. Martin. Please state your name, address, and zip code.

Peggy Gargis, 3931 South River Circle. And I had some comments written on the fire situation, the lithium batteries. But some gentlemen ahead of me addressed that quite nicely. I will get to that. But in the meantime, I wanted to reiterate my request for real-time monitoring of the closed-loop systems in anything that you all include. And I'm glad for closed-loop. It does pose problems. It releases forever chemicals when it has to have bleed out or blow down. I sent that information and that request to you all twice. I never got acknowledgment of receipt from anybody, but I also didn't know if there was someone to whom to address that who would send it to all of you. So, at any rate, I would like that real time closed loop monitoring of the closed, I mean real time. monitoring of the closed loop system at the data center operator's expense, not the city's. Regarding batteries and fires, I know you're not sequestered. You have seen the footage. So I would like you also to require an independent applicant-funded assessment of thermal runaway risk, large diesel fire scenarios, suppression water demand, on-shift staffing, and mutual aid limits. And please require the developer to fund the specialized training, protective equipment, and apparatus that the Birmingham Fire and Rescue and Mutual Aid Departments will need before day one with biennial refresher training for the life of the project. Also, I want to let you know that I have been to the Oxmoor site to see the one in progress. I have seen the land scrape, as I call it. the bulldozing, I know that it will sit near apartments or any of those storage items.

Just a reminder, we hear about the data center ordinances.

I know, but this one is in progress and it applies to your moratorium and your ordinances because I want to make sure that the ordinance for the lithium batteries, that situation will also be It also applies in Oxmoor. So I would hope that you all will keep that in mind. I'd like to have the 1,000 foot or half a mile buffer. I'd like to have the, I forgot, well, I've forgotten that one, but my last question for you is, Please, please, please. You said you wanted to get it right. Let's do. And if any of the data centers that you would propose or that are coming or would apply, would you want any of them in your district?

Thank you very much. Next speaker. And just as a reminder, we are here regarding the public hearing related to this data center ordinance in general, not any specific property. Thank you. Please say your name, address, and zip code. Thanks.

Hi. My name is Maureen Bright. I live at 149 Cornerstone Court 35022. I had prepared remarks. I'm not going to say them because I think they've been more than adequately addressed in previous speakers. So I'm just going to speak from the heart and tell you that I'm not I'm not opposed to artificial intelligence or any of these data center projects. I worked for over 25 years for IBM, so technology is very familiar to me. And I think anyone that believes that artificial intelligence or any of these projects is a passing thing, I'm telling you, the ship has sailed, all right? The train has left the station on it. So we need to do the best that we can with what is ahead of us. I will say it appears to me that AI hyperscalers, they're looking for and targeting cities and communities where they think they have apathetic or uneducated voters and perhaps leadership that can be duped or bought. I think they made a mistake with Birmingham. I don't believe that about Birmingham voters or leaders. And I want you to prove it to us. Um, Mr. Mayor and counselors, it's not too late. It's really not too late to fix what's about to happen to our city. Our projects that are currently underway and any in the future Okay, if they're done, right this can be a huge boom for us But I think you will all agree that There's a project that is currently underway that just came in like a house of fire and no one even Realized what was going on. No notice. No anything. No public input public input and meetings with the developers and the businesses is essential to make this thing work for us. And I believe that all of you have a unique opportunity here before you. And that is to, before things go any farther, put guidelines at strict measurements with dollar penalties into place. for anyone that's going to do business with us. We have a lot to offer, and we can expect and demand from them what we need. All right?

Thank you, Ms. Maureen. Three minutes is up. Thank you. Appreciate your comments.

Thank you.

Thank you. Next speaker, please. Please state your name, address, and zip code. You have three minutes.

Good afternoon. My name is Cindy Cortez. That's with an S. And I live at 166 Cornerstone Court in Cornerstones of Oxmoor Valley. That's Birmingham 35022. The draft ordinance restricts the generator testing to daytime hours, but never defines that term. And it sets no emissions floor. Hyperscale facilities can run dozens of large diesel generators. How often they test and how dirty they burn directly affects the air quality of the homes nearby, not just those within 500 feet, which we've heard a lot that that is not very far. As a public health professional and registered nurse, just need to emphasize the health effects that these generator emissions can cause, ranging from sudden fatal carbon monoxide poisoning to long-term respiratory and cardiovascular damage from the diesel exhaust and from the nitrogen oxides. Inhaling these fumes can trigger asthma attacks, worsen existing lung and heart disease and increase cancer risk over prolonged periods of exposure and i would recommend in addition to to the limited ordinance specifications that have been suggested that they also include vastly extending the closeness to healthcare facilities, schools, and places where people with disabilities congregate, which that was not considered in a recent example. So we ask that you please define what daytime testing means. is that 9 to 5 with no weekends or gaps, and that they must meet EPA Tier 4 final emission standards. Please use precise enforceable limits to protect residents that's us and give honest operators clear rules and this question is for each of you counselors if a data center were proposed in your neighborhood and the residents of your district strongly opposed it would you still vote in favor of it

Thank you, Ms. Cortez. Next speaker, please. State your name, address. You have three minutes. Thank you.

Yeah, my name is Kelly Hall, and I reside at 112 Cornerstone Court, Birmingham, 35211. And I echo what a lot of the other speakers have said about the 500 feet not being adequate and to retain the public comment on something this important that affects the community as much as these centers do. And I know that we've been speaking about data center, data center, data center, but I think a more appropriate term is AI factory, because I think this is a big manufacturing thing. And that's why I question, in your ordinance, commercial use group three commercial limited manufacturing use. So it lists hyperscale data centers along with places like auto repair, auto sales, and it just doesn't seem to fit. It seems like it's such a big project and has so many consequences for the community. It should be a stand-alone consideration. And if you do that, you strip that out and put it and judge it in its own, then what happened to the Greater Birmingham Humane Society, it would prevent that from happening because they purchased that land in good faith that that would be a safe place to build. And now this has happened. So that's the one thing I question about the ordinance is for the data center to be in all of these things that you see riding down the street. Thank you.

Thank you. Thank you, Ms. Hall. Next speaker, please. Thank you. Your name, address, zip code. Appreciate it.

Good afternoon. My name is Denise Boyce. My address is 412 Camden Cove Circle in Colera, Alabama. No, I am not a constituent of this going in right now, but I have friends close to the area. The Humane Society has territory close to that that will affect these animals. Low frequency sounds under 100 hertz, like thunderstorms, heavy engines, and HVAC systems often cause dogs to feel uneasy. While dogs hear high frequencies better than humans, they experience low frequencies through physical vibrations in their paws and whiskers, which can trigger anxiety, pacing, and hiding. Behavioral changes, unlike high-pitched intermittent sounds, which often cause trembling, low-frequency rumbles generally provoke a desire to escape, causing dogs to pace, pant, hide, and retreat. That needs to be considered in the noise ordinances. Now that's just the dogs, the animals. The disabilities, people with disabilities in the close proximity to that who are nonverbal. I have a grandson who suffers on the autism spectrum who is nonverbal, who cannot communicate these things that affect him. Those need to be considered with the noise ordinances that this place will cause, let alone the air pollution, the water, and all the other things. I'm speaking for the voiceless. Thank you.

Thank you very much. Next speaker, please. Thank you. State your name, address, zip code.

Good afternoon, everyone. My name is Pam Murray. I live at 4220 Overlook Drive South, District 3. I'm also affected by District 5. I'm in the South Avondale Forest Park community. I'd like to add my voice to that of everyone else who's come before you today. And I'd like to emphasize the importance of the protective measures that are part of the current ordinance. I'd like to see stronger protections. Given the scale, the scope of hyperscale data centers, I think it's essential to include or to restore the original requirement within the ordinance, within the original ordinance, to include the special exception requirement. I do think we need to let the public have a say, people who will be affected by any hyperscale data factory or AI factory. The consequences of these data centers are too great to not have public input. I'd also like to see more specific regulations included in the ordinance. There need to be baseline, criteria, baseline standards or metrics that can be followed up on, measured by an independent third party expert. We cannot take the developer's words for granted or just assume they'll do the right thing. It's our job as a city to make sure that the developer protects the public here in Birmingham. Larger setbacks are vital. The 500-foot setback is inadequate, at least 1,000 feet. And finally, I'd like to end on this note. I think enforcement, which is a theme that's already been expressed here by several people, is critical. We have to have an enforcement mechanism. Again, we can't just trust the developer or the end user of the data center, especially a hyperscale data center. We need to have supervision, true oversight, and enforcement. Thank you.

Thank you very much. Before the next speaker, I just want to remind that if you are inside the council chambers and want to speak, please go ahead as you're able to stand in the line to wait. Thank you. That way we know how many speakers are coming. Next speaker, please. Thank you.

Hello. My name is Cliff Welch. I reside at 401. 73 Ashley Drive, 35094. For two years, I previously resided at the apartment complex, Oxmoor Complex, across the street from the new Nebbia site. I know we're not going to talk about that today, but I am a business owner here in Birmingham. I love this city, and I believe that we can do better than this. Three of the main concerns talked about today, and that I want to talk about as well, are power, water, and noise. First, I want to talk about power and water. I don't think it's a shock at all to the council and everyone else here today to say that our people in this state have had enough concerns about corruption surrounding our power, namely Alabama power, and with our Birmingham waterworks. The presence of data centers and the uncertainty around them is just begging for more trouble and more corruption. I am thankful for every regulation that is proposed, but I have to voice that it is not enough. This community is overwhelmingly against data centers, period. We do not want them. And I'm so disappointed. I'm so disappointed in the notion that our words are somehow too political, as if that makes our thoughts, feelings, and concerns able to be dismissed or irrelevant. Now finally, I want to talk about the noise. but not the noise of the data center, because just like their constant hum, we will not stop. Our sound cannot be mitigated, it cannot be muffled, and it cannot be suppressed. You will keep hearing from us about this until it's no longer a problem for us. To wrap this up, I appreciate the push and requirement for transparency. But once again, I rebuke the idea of dismissing the public voice moving forward. To put it into a metaphor, transparency is just a window. And no matter how clean and clear you make it, we do not want to be standing on the outside with our hands cupped around our eyes, peering in. We want to be in the room. And to be extremely clear, I do oppose all data centers, including NEBIUS. We never needed them, and we never will. Thank you.

Thank you. All right. Next speaker, please. Please state your name, address, zip code. Thank you.

My name is Caroline Stewart. I live at 4977 Meadowbrook Road, Birmingham, Alabama, 35242. I want to start by saying that I grew up here in Birmingham. I was born and raised here. And I hope to live here for the rest of my life, raise a family here. And I'm also a public school teacher. So because of those things, I hold great concern for the quality of life that future generations of Birmingham citizens will have in the greater Birmingham area. I believe that it's our responsibility to protect Birmingham for our children and future generations that cannot currently advocate for themselves and are depending on us and the decisions that we make to protect their home and their future. It would be remiss if we did not acknowledge that the decisions we make today about data centers will affect future generations of Birmingham citizens. Now I made this sign in concern about water and how data centers will affect water in Birmingham. I don't want groundwater. There's lots of news stories around how data centers have affected other cities, but I think people have addressed that enough. I am going to ask the council today to apply the aggregate electrical demand rule everywhere the megawatt thresholds appear. The draft defines aggregate electrical demand to count total power, quote, regardless of phasing, ownership structure, or timing of construction. That language is exactly right, and it is the most important anti-gaming sentence in the whole ordinance. please make sure that it is referenced anywhere a megawatt threshold is used. Here's why it matters. Without it, a developer can split one giant facility into smaller phases or into separate legal entities on paper so each piece stays under the threshold that triggers the strongest conditions, even though the real combined facility is enormous. It is the difference between regulating one 300 megawatt campus and pretending it's three smaller projects that each escape the rules. This is not hypothetical in Birmingham. The Oxmoor project was assembled across multiple parcels through affiliated entities, and residents have gone to court over how that structure was put together. An ordinance that does not aggregate by total demand across phases and entities can be defeated by a clever org chart. Tie the megawatt thresholds firmly to aggregate demand everywhere they appear. Please do not leave that door open. This question is for each of you counselors. If this data center were proposed in your district or in your neighborhood with your family and your future kids, and the residents in your district strongly opposed it, would you still vote in favor of it? Thank you.

Thank you, Ms. Stewart. Next speaker, please. And please state your name, address, zip code. Thank you.

Hi, my name is Laura Kramer. I live at 1 Lake Heather Reserve, Birmingham, Alabama, 35242. And I just want to say good afternoon to mayor, council, staff, everyone here. Special shout out. to media for shining that light so that democracy does not die in darkness. I came here today not exactly planning on making remarks. I mostly wanted to show support with my presence as other more well-suited people do the speaking. But the issue of data centers in Birmingham and the surrounding communities, how they're regulated and how they are subject to oversight and compliance, is too important for me to not also raise my voice. So there's been a lot of data presented, but there are still so many questions about data centers' impact on our environment, impact on humans, animals, and all life, their impact on our power grid and our power costs, their impact on the climate, our beautiful, beautiful area. especially our neighborhoods, but also beyond us and the impact on our health in ways we probably haven't even thought of yet. I just want to ask you, our leaders, are you doing your very best for Birmingham? Are you doing your very best for us? Such impactful decisions can't be about keeping with trends or about financial opportunities, although those are important. But I want to stay here. I was born in Birmingham. I've worked in Birmingham and lived here in the area for most of my life. And I want to continue to stay here and be proud of where I'm from. This matter needs an exceptional foundation for a safe, successful future for all of us. Thank you very much for your time.

Thank you, Ms. Grayman. Next speaker, please. Please state your name, address, and zip code. Thank you.

Hi. Good afternoon, council. My name is Callie. And I feel like it's a clear, resounding answer from our hundreds of community members that showed up today and waited hours in the heat to express their concern that we are strongly against the development of this data center. I stand with my community today against the data center development, but if we absolutely have to go forward with one, please consider an alternate approach. In other countries like China, data centers are built out in the ocean, kind of like on a dock where they're lifted and they're naturally cooled by the winds, and the benefits of that approach include a significant reduction of fresh water and energy consumption. There is always a less harmful way. Did you know that? I'm not even a professional environmentalist, and it took very minimal research for me to find a less harmful route myself. You have the access to the tools to bring construction reform to Alabama. Imagine the progressive routes that could manifest of more consideration, public participation, and community consent were considered in this decision. Why are we in such a rush to develop this data center? A paycheck, whatever amount of pay is being offered.

As a reminder, we're here to speak about the data ordinance as a whole. Of course. Not this specific property.

I understand. I guarantee that whatever amount of pay being offered, we will lose 10 times in irreparable environmental damages. Alabama the beautiful gained her nickname from our incredible environment and it is worth protecting. I would also like to emphasize the lack of AI laws and regulations and the dangers of moving forward without proper regulations. Please hear our cries today and stop the development of this data center and use your positions of power to do the right thing. Please do the right thing and protect our home and protect our futures. Thank you so much for hearing me today.

All right. Next speaker, please. And as a reminder, folks, we are here to talk about the data center ordinance that is before us, not a specific data center. Next speaker, thank you. Please state your name, address, zip code.

Hi, my name is Hannah Guy-Wadby, and I'm here as a citizen of Birmingham to ask you as publicly appointed city councilors to protect, excuse me, I'm a little nervous to be here right now, but I am here because it is so important that you listen to the concerns of your constituents. If everything you've heard today is not enough to sway your minds, consider your own self-interest. These data centers not only damage the quality of your children and your grandchildren's futures, but yours. The clean air and water that you enjoy daily are already at risk because of global temperature rises. Do not throw away our future for short-term profit and corporate greed. The story being forced upon us that these data centers are inevitable is just that, a well-funded story. Nothing is set in stone yet. Don't sell away our communities to the highest bidder. The citizens of Birmingham aren't going to give up protecting our lands and communities. I implore that as our leaders, you don't either. No new data centers are necessary. Thank you.

All right. Before our next speaker, I just want to count. Looks like we have one, two, three more speakers. If you're not currently in line, or is that four, Mr. Richard? Four. Do I see a fifth? Yeah. Okay, we have five. There we go. Yes, ma'am, you can. But I will say that will be our last speaker today. All right, go ahead.

Good afternoon. My name is Jake. I live a few miles away from the development of this project.

And I just want to say how... And again, we're speaking today, public hearing is about the data center ordinance as a whole, not any specific...

I understand. I just have to say that this project is basically such a... perfect representation of how modern life is going right now. Beyond the excessive resource consumption, the horrific environmental impacts, and the unprecedented economic stress on our people, I feel like there lies a more existential issue that many people are not voicing about. Think about how AI affects us psychologically to the point where we don't even want to think for ourselves. There are many instances of people relying on it to generate ideas for them, create fake art, solve their issues for them. diminishing their practice in analytical reasoning. When the populace becomes so desensitized to these practices, critical thinking goes out the window. This level of usage will eventually encourage citizens to be consumed by an algorithm that repetitively influences itself, regurgitating the mundane for everyday life. The impact of generative AI has gone so far as to completely compromise our younger generation way of learning that many students rely more on chat GPT for answers instead of thinking for themselves. And I mean, we're already like one of the lowest poorly educated states in our country. And intuition and creativity and free thinking becomes lost at this point. And this is exactly what the higher-ups of our country want, a populace who will not think for themselves.

Mr. Jake, I appreciate your comments about AI in general. Is there something specific to this ordinance you'd like to comment on?

I think everything that I'm stating kind of represents everything that's going on right now.

Is there something specific to the ordinance that you'd like to bring up?

Well, if you'll let me continue. I believe that the populace is accepting of what is promised as an inevitable change to how we live, and places like what we are discussing right now are fueling that narrative. And I implore all of you to act vigilantly in rejecting these corporations, infesting our ways of life, to promote change by denouncing the encouragement of a bleak future that is fueled on false narratives, over surveillance, and indoctrination of our youth. Teach them the ways of natural learning and depart from this reliance on AI that attempts to replicate what it means to be human.

Thank you, Jay. Appreciate it. All right. Next speaker, please. And for our last few speakers, just a reminder that comments are to be about this ordinance specifically.

Good afternoon, my name is Faiza Malani and I live at 267 Kingston Circle, Birmingham 35211. I am here to speak on behalf of myself and my parents Asif and Naveen. We live in our first house in the United States that took 23 years for my parents to save up and finally purchase. This ordinance threatens their hard work. We love Oxmoor Valley, and it is our right by our Ismaili Jamaat Khanna, which is our place of worship. and it is the people and surrounding beauty that is what attracted us to Oxmoor Valley. I understand the city attorneys and you all are doing your best to construct an ordinance that supports and protects us. However, this is not enough. You know you can do better. The city attorney's office stood before you this morning and said we should not include specific noise regulations in the data center ordinance because it was, quote, easier to put it in cities noise ordinance. We don't want what's easier. We want what's right. More importantly, we, every single person you have heard from today and that is still sitting in the audience knows that you can provide more data, actually listen and act upon our concerns, and truly make Birmingham better. So this is what I'm here to ask you to do. Do better. Protect us. Protect our water, our power, our property. Because I know you all chose to be in this position for a reason. And I hope this is not what you are protecting. From my understanding, you all took an oath of office sworn in as city council men and women. This oath entails you to perform your duties to the best of your ability and knowledge. If the research and data is unavailable about noise, water, power, common things that affect every single person in this room, then you are not abiding by your oath. And that is something I would like to remind you of today. I am primarily advocating for you all to expand this provision's 500 feet notification radius. That is not enough. Not even a thousand feet. I know Mayor Woodfin brought it up this morning, but even a thousand is reckless. To truly mitigate this provision as you are supposedly intending, you must expand the 500 feet limit. Additionally, permitting me to advocate today is something I will cherish, but this right must continue to be permitted. It should not be revoked by this council. Data centers are not rhetorical. They deserve to be heard about. Thank you.

Thank you, Ms. Faisal. Thank you. Please state your name, address, zip code.

Lacey Danley, 301 19th Street North, Birmingham 35203. I know you guys are exhausted from hearing a lot of this. I appreciate you. A former judge and colleague of mine, she said about cases that every case deserves its own review and its individual attention no matter how much time it takes. no matter how busy you are, no matter how tired I am. She'd say, no matter how tired I am, I'm going to put that robe on and I'm going to listen because it's the job and it's the right thing to do. So thank you. I have three concerns. One, the ordinance must keep a hearing process in place. I know you guys have heard a lot about from the residents, but it's also important to listen to those that work in this city because Because they pay an occupational tax that contributes roughly, what, $100 million to the city's general fund. So the ability for those people to determine how they feel about their money being spent matters, not just to those that pay property tax and live here. It's important to keep the public's right to due process because without that, we're basically no better than what's going on in the circus. That's Washington. I'm concerned by something I heard from what I believe was the city attorney that any property currently in process is exempt under the ordinance and under this ordinance, they would be allowed to expand beyond the current plan and still be exempt. That ordinance cannot have, it has to have some clear language that is directly in line with Alabama law that would state that an expansion on a nonconforming use requires a variance. You shouldn't be able to just get a blank pass in perpetuity. My third request is that we slow down. Our previous speaker said that you guys are only three months into a moratorium. Why are we in such a hurry? Who is setting our time clock? I think based on the lightning speed of AI world, it's clear. But I am begging you, don't let them drive your clock. And don't let them drive the city of Birmingham's clock. The old saying goes, you can do something faster, you can do something right, but you can't have both. I understand that we want to attract growth, but passing it as it exists leads to deceptive loopholes that could hurt the Birmingham community. such as using the definition of special exception or appropriate noise parameters. One of the previous speakers said that Birmingham has a lot to offer. I know we want to attract growth. Birmingham has a lot to offer, and we need to act like it, that we don't have to take whatever anybody gives us. We can set our own rules.

Thank you. All right, our last two speakers. Please state your name, address, zip code.

Hi there, my name is Joseph Wilson. I live at 2657 Talley Avenue, Birmingham, Alabama, 35211. It's good to see you all today, Councilors and Mayor. Hey, wording. All right, so... I honestly think the ordinance as it is is just not ready to go. There's several things I see in it that need more clarification. Things that I would like to see is make sure the special exception's in there. We need to be able to talk. It doesn't matter how big the data center is, the community should be able to talk. That's what we vote for y'all for. And this is our way of telling y'all, but we want to talk. There's been a lot of people here today. I started outside on the sidewalk in the sun. Then I went to the basement. Then I went to another lobby. Then I went to a hallway just to get here. So, I mean, it's been a little bit of a ride. Other things that I think need to be taken into account is Technology changes fast. I'm a computer technician. I've been messing with computers since the big old floppy disk. It changes. And if we're going to have lithium batteries and fuel cells, we need to make sure our fire departments are ready to handle this kind of stuff. You know, we got firefighters that don't get all the equipment they need. I remember when we were fighting to get them a mower when I was in the Oxmoor neighborhood, it's crazy. Um, We just need to listen. Listen to the people that voted for you. Because if not, you're not going to be here much longer. And make sure that we're protecting stuff. Noise, water, that stuff all affects us. That affects everybody. So take it into account. Take it. as something that the people need you to hear. I know in Oxmoor myself, I worry about everything because every time they come and test the fire hydrant in front of my house, they tell me it should be marked red because the pressure is not there, but it's marked green because nobody wants to touch it, nobody wants to deal with it. My neighbor's house gets ruined from rain, We can't get ditches done. Y'all need to listen to us. 3-1-1, that's kind of a joke. We put in tickets and nothing happens. But we're here today to talk to y'all and we need y'all to hear us. Keep the special exception in there so that people can come and voice their opinions. That's kind of what we're here for. That's what y'all are here for. You know, protect us. Do what we need y'all to do. Because, you know, at the end of the day, if you can't do what we want or what we need you to do, there's no need to hurry you to be there anymore. Y'all have a great day. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Wilson. All right, we have one last speaker today. Please state your name, address, and zip code, and we have three minutes. Thank you.

Madeline Green, Oxmoor neighborhood president. I live in Oxmoor. Counselor Samira, really, I mean really, you learned when you were growing up right from wrong, I hope. You have heard people hear your citizens who have told you how they feel. They've given you stuff that they've read and everything and provided what you needed. But y'all are smart. You already know all that. Whatever the mayor wants, he wants. So city councilors, y'all need to think for yourselves. Put your heart in this. This is nothing that's fun and games. I tore everything up that I had to say. Because this is more important. There is a God. Whether people want to announce there's a God, there's a God. And he's over all of us. And I go with that God. That's why I can forgive people when they do me wrong. And I'm saying to you all, and I'm not here to preach, Hunter Williams. You're looking like you want me to get on down out of here. But that's OK. That's OK. You all need to think with your hearts. They've told you. You know already what should be in those ordinances. You have not done all the work that you need to do, and you're constantly saying, oh, we got it from here, Kim, Spurl. So when it comes to all that, listen to these people. Listen to them. If it was next to you all, you wouldn't be standing here, and you'll be standing right here. Right. if you were not up there. But since you're up there, you're gonna go alone. Each one of y'all gonna go along with each other to get along. So don't do that to us. Don't do that to any people. This ordinance needs to be so tight that other cities will want to use what Birmingham has put out. So that's why I'm talking to you from the heart, because I love everyone that God loves us all, even the ones that don't love themselves. So all I'm asking is that for this ordinance, It is garbage right now, for lack of better words. You need to go back and revamp it just like the citizens said before. Go ahead and take your time with this. Y'all want to vote so fast so that you can. This does wrong, folks. I believe in God. We even have a counselor up here. whose elderly parents live in Oxmoor. About, I live 1,200 feet from the data center. Her parents lives about a good 2,000 feet. That's close.

And they're old.

They're old. So all I'm saying is, let me make the statement. All I'm saying is think with your heart, not with what people are getting you, want you to do.

Thank you, Ms. Green.

Thank you.

All right. Well, friends, this completes the public hearing component of this ordinance. I'm going to hand it back to Madam President.

Thank you, Mr. Vassa. Appreciate you managing this public hearing. I want to thank those residents, those citizens who participated in the public hearing today. I also want to thank the mayor, the administrative team who presented us, with the information and counselors for the questions that you have. I'll ask one more time. Are there any additional questions or statements you'd like to make counselor?

Um, it was just a thought, honestly. Um, I know that they are zone for certain areas right now, but have we looked into, um, I'm sorry, I literally just thought of this question, like a complete ban of them. Is that possible? Is that legal?

Mayor Woodman.

Yes, I'm going to have Madam President, if it's okay, as it relates to Councilor Smith's question, I'm going to have the PEP team, sustainability team, and Attorney Julie Bernard come back in. They should be in proximity to answer that question. And while they're coming in, I need to approach the city attorney and answer her question right quick.

All right, thank you. We'll wait for a minute for the staff to come in.

Thank you, Hunter Garrison. I serve as the Deputy Director of the Mayor's Office of Resilience and Sustainability. Councilor Smitherman, was the question if we could outright ban data centers?

Yes. We cannot.

In U.S. zoning law, there's been Supreme Court cases about it. If it is a legal land use in the United States, we must allow it somewhere. Two months ago in Michigan... a rural community attempted to outright ban communities, they were sued by OpenAI, they lost, and now that data center is going to be built.

All right, it was just a question, that's all. Thank you.

Thank you. Mayor Whippen, did you have a comment?

Madam President and council, I think there's, I think there's, ample concern and questions related to and frustration from the community, by the way, as it relates to the exceptions to the moratorium. We have a ordinance before us that you have options to exercise on, but we do, I think, legal department or the city attorney's office needs to express to this council Kind of what happens if the ordinance does not move forward, but the moratorium still exists. What leeway does that give those who are under the exception?

All right. Thank you, Madam City Attorney.

So there's two things. So to clarify for the record, anything exempt from the moratorium can continue until this ordinance is passed. However, after this passes, they will be required to comply with it for future expansions.

Thank you. I believe we do have a question from Councilor Smith, and then I'll come to you, Councilor.

I just had a comment. Yes. to our speakers since my parents were brought into this. I just want to acknowledge that I just want my elderly parents have been brought into this acknowledge that they have said that they have no problems with data centers and they live very close to the area. So just wanted to make that statement.

Thank you. Council Williams.

It's My understanding, so we fully understand the vote, based on what the city attorney's office and the mayor have conveyed to us, that if something does not pass today, that those projects that have been exempt to date can expand without consent, without our permission. They can change the scope of in which what they are building. They could increase the size. They could change the layout. They could have significant harm or perceived harm by what I would say many of the folks that came to speak today. While we were talking about this ordinance, it was very clear that many folks were speaking to a specific project. But it's my understanding, and I'm actually asking for clarification, really. If we do not pass this today, will exempt projects that are currently underway be able to change their scope, expand, or change the way in which they are configured?

Yes.

It configured in terms of an opera in terms of you know How they're set up if we do not pass this today until they can they can change until we?

Pass an ordinance is that correct that is correct, but for further clarification That for existing data projects that involve expansion or any other efforts will not be subject not only to what you just said but to the conditions that were stated today and to zoning and

OK, so I just want to make that clear because everyone has had a really tough time understanding the amount of emails I've gotten about voting no on a specific project, even though this is about something that limits what that project could do. I want to make sure that folks understand that should we choose to delay this vote today? then the project that everyone has managed to bring up, even though we're talking about a specific ordinance, will have free reign to do whatever they want without any environmental... Yes. Yes. And so I just want to clarify that that is correct.

Councilor Williams has the floor, if you all would please.

And so is that correct, Madam Attorney?

Yes, that is correct, considering permitting and regulations. That is correct.

Thank you. If anyone else has another outburst, I will ask the officer to please allow you to exit so that we can continue with the conduct of the meeting. At this time, counselors, do we have any other comments? Counselor Quinn.

Yeah, in regard to the last issue, I would like to have... all the records of litigation, uh, case law that, um, establishes what you're telling us. Um, because you know, I'm just not going to take somebody's word for it.

Thank you. Thank you. Counselor Smith. I guess adding to what counselor, um, Williams had to say, um, us passing this ordinance today also is not written in stone, correct? We can revise it as needed, correct?

That is correct. OK, thank you. All right. Any other questions? Comments? Councillor Woods and Councillor Gunn.

Thank you, Madam President. One, I want to commend everybody who came out today to speak. I know it's been a long day, and it sounds like y'all started outside and worked your way all the way in. I do want to say, like I said, there's been a long road of really gaining knowledge associated with data centers. I think what we have done is look at worst case scenarios around the country, kind of what the horror stories are, and ensure that our ordinance mitigated some of the worst case scenarios that we've heard from drastic drain on water resources. And so I think that's where you see things like closed loop systems to ensure that we mitigate that concern. We've worked to mitigate noise concerns. We've worked to mitigate how chemicals are removed from the site, light pollution. And so I think We've had a lot of conversation. I've spoken to everyone that has reached out to me. And so I think we've heard a lot of things today. I think there are some things that we can actually take away from this. I think that internally, we should look at a process for baseline metrics. I think that we can do that. Internally, whether we work with a third party or not, I think we can do some work just to get an understanding of where things stand on the front end. But looking around and researching what's going on around the country, we do have one of the stronger proposals in front of us. And with anything else, I think we continue to adapt. if things change. And so I think there is a need to get to an ordinance on the books. That's what we've been working towards pretty much this entire year and doing that work. And so one, like I said, definitely am really grateful for just the amount of participation and people engaging and sharing information. Like I said, we've heard some good things. I think there is definitely some confusion around what action we're taking versus, you know, so there is some confusion there, but I definitely think that there needs to be as much engagement as possible. And, you know, but I think, you know, we've done a lot of work just to be aware and knowledgeable about what the downsides are. So everything that we put in here works to mitigate that. You know, I think as we see additional things, but possibly in the future, we can continue to work on that. But, you know, I think we need to have an ordinance in place and, you know, but that's what we do. We're always looking for things we can do here in the city to improve and increase protections. And this is no different. So we are, I just want to reiterate, like I said, this is not a vote on a certain project. We are voting on an ordinance that sets ground rules for how we engage with data centers here in Birmingham going forward. Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you to everyone that showed up today to provide input in regards to the ordinance. I have a quick question, and this may be for our staff. Given the 20 protections that we have in this ordinance for hyperscale data centers, let's just say hypothetically that a data center approached us in a few years or whatever, and they passed all the 20 protections. What does public input look like? Is there any opportunities for public input given this process? Yes, sir.

It's twofold. One, it's automatic notice via certified mail. So communicating. I think that's the same audience member.

Yes, it is. And I would like to ask you show the same respect that we've shown you all. We've listened to you. We've listened to you intently. And so allow us to conduct the rest of the business, please. Mayor Woodfin.

Yes, ma'am. I think one, again, the automatic trigger. there's an automatic trigger that says even before a permit is given, that notice has to be given to residents within that area. I think, too, for us from a policy standpoint, we're very clear on making sure that there is a public engagement process by way of that organization, whoever they are, has to engage those community members prior to being able to move forward, whether it's whether it's incentives or anything else of that nature, they have to engage the public going forward. And we'll make sure we put that in policy, particularly as it relates to the economic development team, as well as external partners who they all will go to and ask for tax abatements. And so we are not willing to engage and or give without that public engagement.

I guess my question was more so along, so let's say they meet all the zoning requirements and then they have met the 20 protections in place. Is there anything, I guess, when they come before Planning Commission or they come before ZBA, would there be a public input process or involvement process for something that had to come before Planning Commission or ZBA?

I think you mentioned those exceptions, C3, I believe, and anything else you want to speak to?

Um, once again, my name is Kim Sprola service, the zoning administrator in the department of planning engineering and permits and council are going to answer your question. Um, if there is a lot consolidation, if the property has to be resurveyed or if there's a vacation of right of way or a dedication of new right of way that would trigger our regulatory process through the subdivision committee, which does include a public hearing for that process. In addition, any properties located in an I three zone district that would also trigger a public hearing through the city's zoning advisory committee. And then, as we mentioned earlier, any deviation from those 20 conditions that could, an applicant could apply for a variance would also trigger a meeting through the city's zoning board of adjustment, which would also provide a public hearing.

And Lakeshore Quarter, could you share with the council what is that zone for?

Yes, sir. So the Oxmoor area, as most of you guys know, is zoned MXD, which is our planned mixed use. And any property that has had a conceptual plan and a use group assigned by this council, would have to go through a public process with the Oxmoor Steering Committee. They not only have to meet the guidelines identified in the zoning ordinance, they would also have to meet those guidelines in the Oxmoor Steering Committee, and it would also trigger review by the Oxmoor Steering Committee.

And a note, Counselor Gunn, because I know you're still going, but it just made me realize and listen to Ms. Sproul, Madam President, to Dr. O'Quinn's, I guess, concern around seeing case law. Conferred upon legal and PEP, sir, there is no case law. What there is is existing land use and our existing ordinance, which are the only two standards people have to comply by unless there is an actual ordinance if and when it's passed at point what this council deemed. And so anything prior to that then they can move forward under our existing ordinance and under our existing land use. And because they were not a part of the moratorium, then no, we could not say no. Permitting could not say no to, hypothetically, if somebody wanted to expand or deviate or increase megawatts, et cetera, change the scope, all of the things you said earlier. So I wanted to answer that there is no case law, sir. It's just our existing land use and our existing ordinance. That's the only two things that they have to comply by.

All right. Hold on one second. I think, Councillor Smith, did you have something else you wanted to say? Are you all good? OK, Councillor Williams.

Is there currently a plan to expand an existing exempt from what we've been presented? Do we know that?

I think there may have been questions from existing organizations to professional staff about what that process looks like. Also, and I have another correction, Madam President, to Dr. O'Quinn's question. There's case law around vested rights. So... There was a reason why certain organizations were excluded, because they had vested rights because of the process they started before a moratorium. And so when you add the combination of vested rights, existing land use, as well as our existing ordinance, but for changing the ordinance, passing the ordinance, anything new in the ordinance, you don't have to comply with anything that does not exist. and you won't have to comply with what exists, which is our existing ordinance.

Thank you.

All right, at this time, we're ready for the vote. Did you have a comment? Did you hear the answers to your question? You're okay.

Madam President, just one last comment. I think we're all... you know, thinking about this and the information that was presented today, I want to thank those who came to speak and just know your voices, you know, were heard. I'm thinking about the 20-step permit application process. And folks, just so you all know, I think... My chief of staff printed out. These are the emails that we've received in our office related to related to questions around the ordinance. And I know that this is something that is on a lot of people's minds and understandably so. And some of those personal conversations that I've had have been with people who have vetted this. 20-step permit application to people in other states. And I've heard good things about that. That's just me sharing that in the spirit of honesty. I do know that there is some teeth in this ordinance as it is currently written. What concerns me most is we've spent a lot of time today talking about if this passes today, then what? And I want us to also consider If we don't pass this today, then what happens and what I have heard legal department city staff mayor on record say is that if there's a entity that is currently permitted that they could apply for an expansion of their existing permit that the moratorium does not apply to it. Y'all hear that like at it. So the concern there is that if we do not act today, that there is room for growth from those entities that are currently permitted. So I just wanted to state that concern out loud. It is a legitimate one. It is hard for me to see beyond that. So again, I just wanted to offer those thoughts that, again, we have thought a lot about what happens if we don't pass, if we do pass this today, but I think we also need to think about what happens if we don't. Thank you, Madam President.

Thank you, Madam Clerk.

We're ready for the vote.

Show him out, please. We're ready for the vote.

The vote has started.

Go home. The vote has started.

Yes, my iPad isn't registered.

I vote no.

Okay, that vote should be... All right, item number one passes. Thank you very much. At this time, we'll continue with the rest of our agenda. We do have one community voices. I think that you, you know what? Do we have one more? Do we have anyone for community voices if you call that name?

Ma'am, we do have one speaker. Okay, if you go ahead and call the name, please. His name is Courtney Beeman.

Okay, and I believe the gentleman is gone. Counselors, does anyone have any updates? We'll take a motion to adjourn. All those in favor, please say aye. Aye. Thank you. Meeting adjourned. Thank you all very much.