Middleton, WI Data Centers & Crypto Mining: Data Center Zoning & Siting (2026)

40 of the City of Middleton Municipal Code, adopted by Ordinance No. O1689 on June 16, 2026, declares a temporary moratorium with respect to the issuance of zoning certificates for data centers as a principal use when they have a floor area greater than 10,000 square feet contained within a single building or collection of buildings. 50 that could let an applicant argue a data center fits some existing category, the Council froze the door shut while it studies the use. The moratorium runs for twelve months from its effective date or until the City adopts a permanent data-center ordinance, whichever comes first, and it is adopted under the general zoning authority of Wis.

Stat. 23(7)(am). During the freeze, the Department of Planning and Community Development, working with the City Attorney, is directed to draft comprehensive standards addressing the impacts a data center campus can bring, including consultation with other municipalities and industry stakeholders on power demand, water use for cooling, and noise from mechanical equipment. The moratorium defines a data center broadly as any facility whose principal use is storing, managing, processing, or transmitting digital data, including its supporting air handlers, generators, water-cooling systems, and utility substations. One carve-out exists: the freeze does not apply to a data center that is merely accessory, serving another already-allowed use on the same zoning lot, so an office building's own server room is not caught by the ban.