Peoria, IL Data Centers & Crypto Mining: Crypto Mining Rules (2026)

The Development Code's definitions chapter (10.0) defines Data Center broadly to include server farms, web hosting, cluster computing, cloud storage, colocation centers, and cryptocurrency mining, so a crypto-mining operation is regulated as a Data Center rather than under its own category. The Article 5 Use Table lists Data Center as a Special Use (marked with a hollow box, meaning discretionary Planning and Zoning Commission review, not a permitted-by-right use) and allows it only in the N1 Institutional District and the I-1, I-2 and I-3 Industrial Districts, citing Section 5.3.4.B for the applicable performance standards. It is not listed in any commercial, office, or residential district at all, so a mining operation proposed for those districts has no path to approval.

Section 5.3.4.B, Industrial Use Performance Standards, sets three operating conditions once a Special Use is granted. First, the use of cargo containers, railroad cars, semi-truck trailers, or other similar storage containers for any component of the operation is strictly prohibited, closing off the shipping-container mining pod model some operators use elsewhere. Second, the facility must be designed, constructed, operated, and maintained so it does not exceed the noise levels set in Section 4.5.7, Industrial Districts Performance Standards. Third, within 30 days of commencing operations the Building Permit applicant must submit a sworn affidavit naming the person who performed the noise measurements, stating the measured decibel levels, and affirming the measurement method and compliance with the allowable octave-band sound pressure levels of Section 4.5.7. The City reserves the right to require independent verification of those noise measurements at any time, giving the Zoning Administrator ongoing leverage over a facility even after it opens.