Council considers 120-day period to set data center policies

An investor has expressed interest in building a data center in an existing building within the city of Springfield.

Springfield City Council last night held the first reading and public hearing on a measure to enact a 120-day delay in consideration of data center applications. A vote is planned for a special council meeting prior to a June 29 lunch workshop.

In an interview prior to the meeting, City Manager David Cameron explained that he had been working with city staff since the start of the year on forging a general policy on data centers – something that is not covered specifically in the city’s land development code.

He confirmed, however, that the city had received an inquiry from a company interested in building a data center within city limits. The inquiry centers on an existing site zoned for a planned development.

Steve Childers, the city’s director of planning and development, confirmed an investor’s interest in building a data center inside the city.

“We did meet with the developer in what we refer to as a ‘preapplication’ meeting,” Childers said in an email. “That is an opportunity for all departments to hear what the potential development proposal is and offer comments to the potential developer so that they may perform any due diligence they may need to before formally submitting either a site plan application or building permit.”

Cameron said the site under consideration is 2900 S. National Ave. A description of the property on real estate site LoopNet shows up to 30,876 square feet of office or medical space available. Greene County assessor records show the building sits on roughly 2.8 acres and was purchased on March 7, 2025, by NSI, A.1 LLC. That company was organized on Feb. 24, 2025, according to Missouri secretary of state records.

Cameron said the current planned development zoning classification for the building includes data processing services as an approved use.

“We are evaluating whether or not this type of use, which has characteristics similar to data centers, is appropriate next to single-family homes,” Cameron said via email.

Cameron characterized the proposed delay as a proactive step rather than a reactive one.

“The goal is to get ahead of the issue rather than trying to catch up later,” he said.

Cameron said that the 120-day administrative delay would provide staff with time to continue and complete a technical analysis, gather public input and return recommendations to council. The period could be extended, he said.

He said the review would examine the potential impacts of data centers on electricity, water, wastewater, land use, noise and public services before setting long-term policy.

“The pause allows Springfield to create a transparent evaluation framework rather than making decisions project by project,” Cameron said. “This is about creating certainty for residents, utility customers, elected officials and future investors.”

He added that the city is charged with protecting utility customers and ensuring infrastructure reliability. The review will examine with City Utilities of Springfield how future data center development could affect electric capacity, water use and long-term infrastructure planning.

Cameron added that it’s important to have the conversation publicly instead of behind closed doors, and public engagement opportunities and listening sessions are planned. Regular updates will be provided to the public, he said.

“Community members should have an opportunity to help shape the standards that will guide future decisions,” he said.

Cameron said the pause is not about whether the city is for or against data centers.

“This is about making sure Springfield has the right policies, infrastructure assessments and public safeguards in place before evaluating projects that could have significant long-term impacts on our community,” he said via email.

During the council meeting, five community members spoke out against data centers, and this morning, a protest brought some 50 demonstrators to the corner of Sunshine Street and Glenstone Avenue, the site of Plaza Towers and the Sunshine Event Center. Plaza Towers is owned by Trent Overhue, who is one of the developers, through Lumon Solutions LLC, of a data center now under construction in rural Webster County. At the time of the protest, Overhue was inside the event center participating in a panel discussion on data centers. Titled “The Data Center Conversation Our Region Can’t Afford to Skip” and sponsored by magazine Biz 417, the event brought together Overhue with development and utility officials to discuss the data center topic. Overhue did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the protest and the city’s proposed data center pause for this story.

Cameron said cities across the country are grappling with the issue of data centers, and he has been dealing with the issue for nearly a decade in his administrative roles in Springfield and Republic. The current city code does not consider data centers, he noted.

Councilmember Brandon Jenson attended the protest this morning to speak to demonstrators and take notes on their concerns, which covered pollutants and their dangers to the karst landscape as well as noise and threat to the utility infrastructure.

“I’m just really trying to understand what concerns folks actually have to make sure that the analysis and the report that’s prepared by staff provides responses to those concerns,” he said. “I know that I have some fellow council members that are inside the meeting, so I’m hoping we can kind of sit down and just talk about, ‘Here’s what I heard,’ ‘Here’s what I heard,’ and kind of figure out what the path forward looks like for the city.”