Protecting Our Infrastructure, Water & Neighborhoods (No AI Data Centers)
The entire city of Kitchener is designed for people, housing, and small businesses not industrial, resource-heavy data processing centers. We are leveraging municipal land-use planning authority to protect our water table, electrical grid, and land supply.
Lower-tier municipalities hold exclusive land-use planning authority under the Planning Act. Through targeted Comprehensive Zoning Bylaw amendments and Interim Control Bylaws, Kitchener City Council can legally define hyperscale data centers as a distinct land use and exclude them from commercial cores. Furthermore, Kitchener Utilities can enforce daily water distribution volume caps to ensure municipal infrastructure prioritizes residential growth and green commercial innovation over water-evaporative industrial cooling.
SHOCK REPORT: Data Centers NO BENEFIT For Local Communities
How Everton Will Get This Done
To protect Downtown Kitchener from resource-intensive industrial development, Everton Dixon will utilize lower-tier municipal powers enacted under Section 34 of the Planning Act and Section 11 of the Municipal Act to pass the AI & Hyperscale Data Center Zoning & Resource Restrictions Bylaw. This framework updates the city's Comprehensive Zoning Bylaw to explicitly define hyperscale data facilities as a distinct land use, establishing an outright ban across Ward 10, the Downtown Commercial Core, and all mixed-use neighborhoods. Beyond spatial restrictions, the bylaw imposes strict environmental and utility caps capping municipal water draw from Kitchener Utilities at 5,000 liters per day with a mandatory 100% closed-loop dry-cooling setup, setting a 45-decibel nighttime boundary noise limit, and banning diesel backup generators in favor of clean micro-grid energy storage.
Execution of this strategy will take place across two structured phases beginning in Phase 1 with an immediate one-year Interim Control Bylaw to freeze all incoming data center applications while formal zoning amendments are codified. Phase 2 will follow by updating Kitchener Utilities connection policies requiring mandatory, comprehensive site-plan reviews for any commercial applicant requesting high-volume water or energy infrastructure guaranteeing that Ward 10's grid capacity, water table, and urban land remain protected for working-class housing, active office spaces, and community growth.
Summary
Here is the exact legal framework a Kitchener City Councillor uses under the Ontario Planning Act:
1️⃣ Section 38 Interim Control Bylaw (ICBL): City Council has the direct legal power to pass a 1-year moratorium (ICBL) halting all new AI data center applications immediately while we study local water and grid impacts. Cities like Oakville and Hamilton have already used this exact legal tool.
2️⃣ Section 34 Zoning Bylaw Amendments: Land zoning belongs to the City of Kitchener. Council can update zoning laws to restrict high-intensity computational server farms or set strict local performance standards for water usage, energy draw, and noise.
3️⃣ Site Plan Control & Local Servicing: A developer cannot build without Site Plan Approval and local water connection permits, which are controlled at the city level through Kitchener Utilities.
4️⃣ Pushing Back on Provincial Overreach: Even if provincial authorities attempt to intervene, a resolute City Council can deny local municipal servicing agreements and demand full environmental reviews before a single pipe is connected.
Your City Council vote matters because local zoning and water connections are the ultimate gatekeepers.