The Aurora City Council approved moving forward with two new regulations on data centers and directed staff to come back at the next study session with others.

At a council meeting in early August, council members directed city management to update data center development standards in Aurora. Two of them went to the council for initial approval Monday night.

The first new regulation, which will go to an official vote at the next regular council meeting, is a ban on evaporative cooling mechanisms.

Such mechanisms are “inefficient” in their water use, according to council documents. As the city grows, water supply has become a significant concern.

The council also moved forward with a zoning code change, which would allow data centers in various zones — including medium-industrial and business-tech — but not in mixed-use office and institutional zones, which also allow schools and assisted living facilities.

Since the change involves zoning, it will go to a planning commission meeting before going to the council for an official vote later this year.

In Monday’s study session, councilmembers debated other methods of data center regulation, directing staff to bring forward proposals for setbacks, noise regulation and physical screening mechanisms.

Several members also asked staff to consider data center sizes, saying there’s a difference between large-scale data centers and small ones that operate inside other buildings.