That t hat Council direct Staff to prepare an OCP amendment bylaw to require that any future rezoning applications for a data centre include detailed information on daily/yearly water use, energy consumption, and energy and water conservation plans.
Thank you. So I'm bringing this forward because there is a very high degree of public interest and concern around data centres. And I believe rightly so. There are a lot of unknowns with these projects. And there's no reason that the degree of water usage should be one of those things, particularly at the rezoning stage. And in discussions with our city manager and CAO Dale Lindsay, he shared with me that the reasoning stage is the most appropriate place and time to receive this information. And that also gives counsel the ability to, uh, at our discretion, put a covenant on the amount of water use. And that's something that we didn't have an opportunity to do the last time a data centre rezoning came to council because there was no information on the water usage. Provided at that time. And so in speaking with staff, the expectation, if this motion were to pass would be that water conservation measures could be considered through the application and the report at the rezoning stage would speak to that. Conservation commitments to address the policy could be secured through rezoning. And so if this policy had been in place in 2022, the report would have spoken to water conservation measures and would have likely recommended measures that we did not have a chance to implement. And for myself, coming onto council between third and fourth reading on that data centre rezoning, I was looking for information and none of my questions could be answered. And I shared with colleagues that I had great concerns about the degree of water usage. And some said to me that they weren't concerned at all. And I think that's changed. And I certainly hope that has changed from our city's leadership, given the degree of public interest and desire to really know where our water is going. And yes, Nanaimo is in a good situation relatively. With water, but we are in a climate emergency. And we are seeing rapid changes. And I think we are going to really need to prioritize certain projects over others. And based on community need. And so this isn't an ideological stand. It's simply to make sure that we are doing our due diligence as a council at the rezoning stage to have all of the information so that we can make an informed choice. And this is the time when council has the ability to make a choice when it comes to a data centre, because these are site - specific rezonings. So you'll have a specific project in mind. And it's likely that council doesn't get another crack at these applications, because like the PAST data centre application after rezoning, it was a delegated authority. So it went to staff. And Council didn't have any other hand on that application. And so yes, covenant on water use was secured by staff, but that was not something that council had any information about until it was a done deal. So I just want to make sure that we have all of our information and if another data
jumped in and then Councillor Manley. That's okay. Thank you. That was on my list. You see it differently over there. So to me, it doesn't matter whether it's an AI or a data storage centre. Data Centre period when it comes to us at rezoning, I want to have complete information about the degree of water usage and what their plans are for water conservation. And the piece about energy conservation and consumption was recommended to me directly by our city manager Dale Lindsay. I'm not okay with making a decision in the dark at rezoning when there's such high concern around our water sources and the degree of water use. And with having that information at rezoning, there's no fear and the misinformation. What there is, is information. And we can combat any fears and anxieties by actually showing that we have the data and we can make Something. Oh, I apologise. Okay. Thank you. Staff had no information for us on water use at the rezoning stage. Um, other than, you know, I was told generally it's closed loop and wouldn't use that much water. And then, you know, later come to learn that it actually uses between 55, 000 and 69, 000 litres of water a day. I spoke at length with our CAO about the best course of action at the best and most appropriate time to request full information on water usage. He shared with me that it was the OCP amendment. That is the best way to do that because we already have site - specific rezoning for data centres. I also, in my original motion, um, that I shared with staff. It was to request a staff report on options to amend the OCP to require that any future rezoning applications for a data centre include detailed information, et cetera, et cetera. Directly from the City Manager, he gave me the alternative that council direct staff to prepare an OCP amendment bylaw to require dot, dot, dot. So the recommendation that we skip the staff report and go straight to OCP came directly from the city manager, uh, I regret that he's not online to back me up on this, um, but I'm going to throw to Ms. Bopolsing. Your worship and
you, Councillor Manley. Thank you. How that was interesting commentary there. I think one way or the other we need to figure out a way to, um, have a little more information on, on water and energy use and appropriate sighting in terms of distributive energy. If we got facilities that are cooking hot, needing a place to cool off, um, you know, we, we see distributive energy systems in other communities that disperse the heat and use it in a way that's, that's appropriate. You know, we were, we were told that, uh, we are in a good place for water, but, uh, we are seeing more and more droughts. And we've been told we don't need to build our dam up. Uh, in, in a certain time frame, but we're, we're affected by what happens in the whole region. We're trucking water to other areas where aquifers are draining. And, um, uh, surface water wells are in trouble. So we do need to be more aligned with, um, ensuring that, uh, we protect our water sources and we protect our energy sources. We only, um, we, we, we import 70 percent of our energy onto Vancouver Island. And so, uh, these are important considerations. Thank you. Thank you.
you. I just want to Councillor Brown. To remind counsel and Council members that we got a email from the director or the manager of Public Works about going into stage three water restriction is that the earliest time ever. And that was because aquifers were being drawn down because we were providing water to Lancefill. Well, their wells were running down that we were trucking water into surrounding communities where the wells were running down. The aquifers surrounding our community are stretched. They're struggling. We have a lot of development happening. In this region. And water is an issue. We have a robust water system. For the City of Nanaimo. We're lucky that way. But we also have neighbours and we take care of our neighbours. And so sharing water is an important thing to do. Councillor Armstrong is dead correct. The provincial and federal governments need to regulate this. They need to regulate how water is used and cycle through these systems. So it's not wasted. And they need to regulate how energy is used. So it's not, uh, using horrendous amounts of energy for these centres. Data Centres are important. And we need to have sovereign AI centres and sovereign data centres to store our own data so that our health data, our own personal data is stored in Canada. Um, so it is what's going to be happening. We are going to see more data centres built in Canada. Because I, for one, do not want my data, uh, subject to homeland security. Or any other American laws or American corporations. So I just want to make sure that we do it right and that we aren't making these decisions in the dark. And we do know how much energy is being used. And we do have to know how much water is being used. So I'm going to support this. And I appreciate, uh, the wise words of staff and the recommendation given to Councillor Ismire to put this recommendation forward. Thank you. Thank you.
Councillor Armstrong. Thank you. I think it's important that too, we also, when we're looking at this at, we differentiate between an AI data centre and a storage data centre, which is the one on, because the difference in water usage, et cetera, et cetera. I think that's important. I think we need to be looking at closed loop, which I think that's, uh, one of the things that we'd be looking at. And the other thing I would like to say is that there's one, two, three, I think four different resolutions coming to the UBCM on this, pushing the federal government and provincial government to come out with proper regulations because there is no set regulations across the country. It is a priority for this federal government to build AI centres. So if they're going to do that, then let's have proper regulations so that we're not stuck in this boat. Um, I think I do agree with what Councillor Brown said, I think it might be better to put this instead of an OCP amendment to put it under the development process. Um, the other thing I would like to ask of staff on this and it's kind of related, but kind of not. Because the, um, BC government is responsible for determining if they're going to get the electricity or not. Is there a way that before we start doing all this work beforehand that we wait to find out if, like I understand the rezoning part, but is there a way to instead of us doing all this work that we wait to find out if they're even going to get their electricity. Because right now they said they're only going to do six projects and the 20 in the lineup. So why would we take staff time to do all this work if they're not going to be approved for electrical. Or unless they're going to do their own, like whether it be through nuclear reactors as they're doing in Alberta or natural gas, which I don't think the province is allowing. But the question, like, I think that we're doing a lot of work. And I look at all the work that's been done on this. And we still don't even know if it's going to be approved to get the electricity. Mr.
Guessumbroch. Thank you. I mean, the huge amount of public interest and concern around, um, the development of data centres. And I think that the concerns are incredibly valid. Um, and, uh. I think I definitely would like to have detailed information, um, on the water usage, energy consumption and energy and water conservation plans at rezoning. I think that's the appropriate place to have them. And when we had the rezoning come forward last time, one of the reasons why I voted against because it wasn't very clear. And so I think the public expectation, uh, out there that we, uh, make sure that we have something in place. Um, and I think that it's still agnostic to the development, but it's asking for the required information. And I think that's a very reasonable, uh, request to make. And I think the OCP amendment bylaw is a valid route to go about doing it. And, uh, I think it also, uh, signals, um, the Communities desire and intent around this. And so, uh, I support the, uh, motion as is, um, councillors would like, uh, to make an amendment regarding other roots of having that information be available at rezoning. I'm open to hear that amendment, but outside of, uh, an amendment, um, I'm happy to support this. And I think that I'd be appreciated and timely to put
Councillor's Brown Manly Armstrong and Prenouncer Brown. Thanks to your worship. Just first and foremost, I think we regardless of the, whether that had been a delegator, the or not to council, ultimately the application was in alignment with our development permit guidelines. But I do think I agree, I think, with the underlying intention here that there is some uses that at the point of rezoning it is nice to have more information. So I can understand the intent. And I think I can support the intent. However, I don't actually think the OCP is likely the correct place. And I'd like to ask a question through you two staff. Um, would not stand alone policy or the DAI by a lot of people be the more appropriate police for requesting this of proponents. Uh, at the time of
rezoning. Mr. Holm. Thank you through your worship to Councillor Brown. Yes, there could be rather than OCP policy. Uh, we could look at, um, development, approval information bylaw requirement, related to this, um, to the issue. We'd get at the same information desire to support the rezoning or, you know, possibly a standalone Council policy as well. Um, specific to the issue. Um, so yeah, an official Community Plan Amendment is, you know, well, it's definitely, I guess one, one way to get at it. There's definitely, I think, uh, probably less, some more efficient and more direct approaches
that could achieve the same thing. As you'd suggested. Okay. Uh, thank you. Yeah. And I think thanks for that, Mr. Holm. I think that confirms for me that I think probably the OCP is not the correct approach, but likely council should be furnished with, with, uh, report on, on the options and the more appropriate place. And I say, for state this for two reasons. Like the OC to amend the OCP, there is like a legislative required process that can be onerous. And, you know, I think, I think of some of the couple of the previous motions of Councillor Manley that there may be times where council wants, uh, some additional information on the use. This councillor, the next. And so always having to amend your OCP to do that might not, might not be the best place at all, uh, where they're standalone policy or it's single motion, not legislated process or a, uh, through the DAI bylaw, the more appropriate place. So it can be more flexible and nimble as needed, but also changed as needed because if you add uses over time and you start to find out, Hey, this doesn't make a lot of sense. You want to remove them. So, uh, I, I sport the intention of the motion. I think it's important to, uh, first of all, I think any data centre coming in is going to have this information because it's got to be part of their, uh, cost benefit analysis of building a data centre and jurisdiction. How much are they paying for electricity? How much do they pay for water? Um, support it from the Community perspective. But, uh, I don't think we should just support an amendment to the OCP. We should probably do it through the DAA bylaw or a standalone policy. Thank you. Thank
back to Council Eastern, I'm going to say something. Thank you. Your worship and just a question through you and then a comment. So Mr. Holm. The issue then of getting provincial approval. Has to come after the rezoning. Is that the way it works now? I guess, because my concern is why can't. We get provincial consent first before we get, go through the whole process of rezoning and putting the public through this? I'm just, I'm just confused.
Well, through, uh, through three worship Council Prino, I think that politicizes potentially the, I mean, they're going to want to know, they're going to want to know that they have the land use approval to go ahead with the project. Um, I don't think they're going to want to, um, and they're going to want to know that they, when they're dedicating power to a project that it's fairly certain to proceed, is my understanding. I mean, we can definitely have a conversation with, with hydro about that, uh, I don't think they're going to be interested in, in fact, they can share once a project is going through approval stages, they can really share very limited information. Uh, with us. Um, okay. But I don't think they're going to want to commit to power to a project or that the applicant would want to go through the design details necessary to get that commitment prior to having any
certainty with respect to the land use. Okay. Thank you. I appreciate that. So the important thing for us to remember is that if you have a phone or a computer, you're going to be using AI. This is an important AI is part of our future. Work. It's, it's, it's everything that all of us. Are doing on a daily basis. So I want to support this motion, but the trouble that I have with it is that I think, I think Councillor Armstrong's made some excellent points about the type of AI centre that we're looking at. I think Councillor Brown has made some excellent points going through the OCP amendment. That is just such a process. We need to minimize doing this. And so I'm not sure that we're, I'm not sure that this motion is correct at this point. That's the struggle that I'm having, even though I want to support it for all the, all the reasons that, uh, you've said Councillor Yasmear. So I'm
Um, with all due respect, there's many routes we could take to this, both Mr. Brown and Mr. Holm are correct that you could do it through the development approval process. However, the purpose of an OCP is to set broad policy on how you're approaching. So the OCP is still a route you can take to achieve the same objective. Um, so I just wanted to put that there for Council's consideration. We have the OCP as a broad standing document that says the direction on a number of things that we do. And so I just wanted to say that if you want to use this as a tool, it's one that can be pursued. Thank you. Council