Tempe, AZ Data Centers & Crypto Mining: Data Center Zoning & Siting (2026)

Section 3-429 of Tempe's Zoning and Development Code limits data centers to three zoning districts: the Mixed-Use Educational (MU-Ed) district on Arizona State University land, and the General Industrial (GID) and Heavy Industrial (HID) districts elsewhere. The stated purpose is to steer data centers toward the city's designated innovation hubs and rail corridors, where job growth and commerce are prioritized, while managing impacts through land planning, review of energy and water consumption, and noise-mitigation design standards. Every data center use requires a use permit under Section 6-308 regardless of district.

The location standard in Section 3-429(B) bars a data center building from sitting within 500 feet of the property line of any residential use or residential zoning district. Backup generators serving the facility must be housed inside an enclosed building with ventilation engineered to cut the noise that reaches surrounding parcels; an exposed pad-mounted generator does not meet this standard.

Beyond the general use-permit approval criteria in Section 6-308(E), Section 3-429(C) requires the applicant to submit an economic impact study for the Economic Development Director, or a designee, evaluating whether locating the data center in an innovation hub or rail corridor would displace higher-employment uses. A facility that qualifies as an "extreme-water use" under the code must also file a water use plan with the Public Works Department under Tempe City Code Section 33-142. The city adopted this section by Ordinance No. O2025.23 on July 1, 2025.