The Columbia Planning and Zoning Commission will hear a request Thursday to rezone a lot north of town into an industrial lot. This change in zoning would allow for the possibility of a data center to open on the land in the future.

The request was made by the owner of the property, who noted that a data center “may be pursued on the site.”

In a published agenda report, the committee indicated its support for the approval of the rezoning request stating that it “aligns with the land use context.”

Elyse Schaeffer, policy coordinator for the Missouri Coalition for the Environment, said it's difficult to gauge the impact this could have on the community because of the lack of transparency and requirements that developers disclose how much energy a data center uses.

“‘Data center’ as a ter

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