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The Pine Island City Council is expected to consider two aspects of a potential hyperscale data center Tuesday, including a step that would effectively clear the way for a tailored zoning code for the spot where one may be built.
The council will also consider recommendations from the city’s planning committee addressing road and sewer needs for the proposed 482-acre site, which is just north of Rochester.
Members of a group opposing the proposed data center said the city council hasn’t taken community concern about the project into consideration.
Pine Island resident Aubree Derksen is among them. She lives within a mile of the proposed data center site and said she has concerns about the environmental and health impacts of the data center. She is among those who founded a local group opposing the project.
“As residents, what it looks like is that [the City Council] paved the way, [the City Council] made changes to the comprehensive plan for a developer, but [the City Council] left residents out of that conversation,” she said. “And we have been asking for you to take our voices seriously and give us a seat at the table, and we're repeatedly being ignored.”
New jobs, wider tax base
Mayor David Friese said he hasn’t decided yet how he will vote at the meeting. He said he’s been listening to concerns about the proposal, making all available information about the project transparent to constituents.
Some constituents would like to see the data center built, said Friese. Jobs associated with the data centers — both permanent and temporary — are a benefit, he said, and so is an increased tax base.
“This first phase alone could double our combined commercial/industrial tax base. This means less tax burden on our current businesses while bringing more people into town to visit these businesses,” said Friese.
Pine Island isn’t the only community facing a data center proposal — and not the only municipal government facing pushback from community members. In Hermantown, community opposition prompted the developer of a proposed data center to pause to allow for more community engagement.
Concerns range from the amount of water and energy these proposed projects would use to the noise they would make.
Legal challenges
Pine Island is among communities facing legal challenges from the Minnesota Center for Environmental Advocacy. The group has sued the city, claiming the city’s environmental review of the proposed site is inadequate. It wants the court to pause the project until the city completes a more thorough review of energy and water use.
MCEA has similarly appealed proposals in Hermantown, Lakeville, North Mankato and Faribault.
Last week, MCEA filed a request for a temporary restraining order against the project as well, though a judge has not yet responded to the request. If granted, it would pause the permitting and construction process on the project to give the court some time to weigh in on the merits of the group’s lawsuit.
“We've heard reports that there is already some sort of … pre-construction, or similar activity involving excavators at the building site happening. Those are things we haven't seen in the other cases yet,” said Henchek.
City officials said they expect to take additional steps to move the project forward early next year. Tuesday’s meeting will be livestreamed on the Pine Island City Council’s YouTube page.
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