Rapid City SD – Rapid City’s data center ordinance is likely to wait another month.
Community Development staff will recommend Thursday that the Planning Commission continue Ordinance 6746 to its Dec. 10 meeting, according to a city news release sent Wednesday. Staff wants the extra time “to incorporate edits based on community feedback received during the recently-completed survey comment period,” the release said.
That reverses the recommendation on Thursday’s posted agenda, which still says staff recommends approval.
The commission meets at 7 a.m. Thursday, Nov. 5, at City Hall, and still has to vote on whether to continue the item. Staff will present the survey findings at the meeting.
The survey
The city collected about 150 responses at its Oct. 14 open house and another 790 online through Monday, Nov. 2, according to the release. On Oct. 22, commissioners had been told about 400 online surveys were in.
The survey summary posted with Thursday’s agenda shows most respondents wanted the draft to go further. A majority marked every proposed limit “not restrictive enough.” Eighty-two percent said data centers should be more than 3,000 feet from homes; the draft sets 500 feet for the smallest facilities and 1,000 for mid-sized ones. Water was respondents’ top concern by a wide margin.
The survey was open to anyone, so it reflects who chose to respond, not the city as a whole.
The second delay
This is the second time the ordinance has been pushed back. The Planning Commission voted 9-0 on Sept. 10 to continue it to Nov. 5. The city’s release says that was to allow time for public input.
If the commission agrees to the new date, the schedule the city had posted, with Legal & Finance on Nov. 10 and City Council readings on Nov. 16 and Dec. 7, will no longer hold. For background on what the draft would allow and ban, see the Sentinel’s preview of Ordinance 6746 and this week’s Planning Commission playbill.
What’s still open
- Which parts of the draft will staff change, and will the revised version be posted before Dec. 10 with time for the public to read it?
- Will the setbacks, water limits or the decision to allow small data centers by right be revisited, given how respondents answered?
- When would the ordinance now reach City Council?
Sources: City of Rapid City news release, “City Staff to Recommend Continuance on Data Centers Ordinance,” Nov. 4, 2026; Nov. 5, 2026 Planning Commission agenda and 26OA006 survey results summary (Oct. 14–Nov. 2, 2026); Oct. 22, 2026 Planning Commission minutes.
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