# 2026-06 Little Rock City Board Adopts Data-Center Regulations Ordinance On **2026-06-02**, the **City of Little Rock Board of Directors unanimously adopted** a data-center regulations ordinance brought by Mayor [[Frank Scott Jr]] — the first municipal data-center zoning regime in the Arkansas corpus, and the city's counterpart to the contemporaneous (and stalled) [[2026-05 Pulaski County Quorum Court Refers Five Data-Center Measures to Planning Board|Pulaski County effort]]. It applies to the Google-linked [[Willowbend Capital, LLC|"Project Boar"]] facility at the Port of Little Rock, which has not yet received city permits. This is a **distinct body from the Pulaski County Quorum Court** — the two should not be conflated. ## Sources - [Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, "Little Rock Board of Directors unanimously approves data center regulations," 2026-06-02](../../web%20archive/2026-06-03/arkansasonline.com/little-rock-approves-data-center-regulations-2026-06-02.md) (web research 2026-06-03) — the ordinance, the vote, Google's statement, the cooling/setback/zoning rules. - [Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, "Two Little Rock officials support block of data centers," 2026-06-01](../../web%20archive/2026-06-03/arkansasonline.com/two-little-rock-officials-support-block-of-data-centers-2026-06-01.md) (web research 2026-06-03). - [Peck & Webb op-ed, "Data center questions need answers," 2026-05-31](../../web%20archive/2026-06-03/arkansasonline.com/data-center-questions-need-answers-2026-05-31.md) (web research 2026-06-03). ## What happened The Board voted unanimously (nearly 4½ hours into the meeting; Directors Antwan Phillips and Ken Richardson absent) to adopt Mayor [[Frank Scott Jr]]'s ordinance. It classifies data centers into **three tiers**, with **"hyperscale"** defined as facilities **over 250,000 sq ft or drawing over 75 MW** from the grid. Key rules (web research 2026-06-03): - **Hyperscale facilities may be built only in heavy-industrial-zoned areas**, with a **minimum 900-foot setback** from residential-zoned property (250 ft for "major," 100 ft for "accessory" data centers). - **Cooling:** facilities must be fully **air-cooled or use high-efficiency liquid cooling**; developers are **barred from using groundwater wells as the primary cooling-water source** (groundwater allowed only for limited uses like irrigation). - **Noise:** limits vary by adjacent zoning; where ambient already exceeds the limit, output is capped at the existing ambient level. City Attorney [[Tom Carpenter]] confirmed (to Director Virgil Miller Jr.) that **Act 851 of 2023 bars the city from *banning* data centers** — so the city regulates rather than prohibits (see [[Arkansas Data Centers Act of 2023 (Act 851) and 2024 Amendments]]). Google's Laurel Brown told the board the company remains in "early due-diligence stages" — "we're just at the beginning" — and that no final build decision has been made; Google "is seeking to build a complex with five main buildings of more than 280,000 square feet each ... likely to require more than 100 megawatts." Directors [[Capi Peck]] and [[Kathy Webb]] had pressed for a moratorium, but per Peck "the votes required to enact one were not there." ## Significance - **A second Arkansas locality moves from open-door to regulated intake — by ordinance, not moratorium.** Where Pulaski County's emergency moratorium *failed* and its zoning rewrite is mid-process, Little Rock *adopted* a complete regulatory regime in one vote. The contrast sharpens the [[Pulaski County Zoning and Land-Use Authority|county-vs-city authority]] story. - **The cooling/groundwater rule is a concrete environmental constraint** on the Port of Little Rock project, where CAW projects up to 4 MGD peak water use — relevant to the water facet. - **It applies to the Google/Willowbend Port project** because no city permits have issued — a live regulatory hook on [[Willowbend Capital, LLC|Project Boar]]. ## Open follow-ups - Retrieve the **ordinance text itself** (Tier-2, City of Little Rock / municode) for the exact tier definitions, setbacks, and noise tables — this event rests on Tier-3 reporting pending the primary instrument. - Watch whether the regulations affect Google's Port of Little Rock timeline or trigger the "due diligence" exit Brown referenced.