Proposed data center project in Yorkville advances to City Council for discussion
Following this most recent green light, the matter will be discussed by the City Council, with a vote on approvals for the project by the council coming as soon as August.
The proposed data center project, called Project Cardinal, is being brought forward by Pioneer Development, LLC, along with the property owners, according to the city's website.
The development site is just over 1,000 acres — a total of 20 parcels — in the northwest corner of Yorkville on the border with Sugar Grove, generally located northwest of Route 47 and Galena Road, south of Baseline Road and east of Ashe Road, according to the agenda item from the July 9 Planning and Zoning Commission meeting.
There would be a total of 14 data center buildings, along with two electrical substations, a utility switchyard and stormwater detention basins, according to plans.
The city has now held two public hearings on the project, and it's gone through the city's Economic Development Committee and Planning and Zoning Commission. The first hearing was about the annexation agreement — which is required because a portion of the proposed development site is not currently part of the city, explained Yorkville City Administrator Bart Olson.
Recommended for approval on July 9 by the Planning and Zoning Commission was the rezoning of the land from various residential and business districts to an M-2 General Manufacturing District to enable the data center project to be built there, as well as a Planned Unit Development, or PUD, and preliminary PUD plan.
At the July 9 meeting, Olson said the data center could benefit the city by providing an influx of tax revenue via increased property taxes from the development area. And it would have a minimal effect on taxing bodies like schools, he said, because a data center wouldn't generate students in the same way a new subdivision would, for example.
Each building takes nearly two years to build, he noted, meaning it could be multiple years before there are any buildings constructed, and therefore potentially years before that increased property tax revenue materializes.
Matt McCarron, a representative from Pioneer Development, LLC, the lead sponsor of the project, emphasized that the project is entirely privately funded, with no support from city or taxpayer money. He noted the possibility of job creation from the project, and said they would not begin building out data center buildings without committed users for them.
The city is requiring that the data center project be constructed at least 500 feet from the next closest building, Olson said, and, within that, there needs to be a landscape buffer surrounding the campus.
McCarron said Pioneer plans to create this 'green belt,' or landscape buffer, to separate the development from the surrounding area to minimize noise and the sight of the buildings, for example. It also plans to build a new public trail that would run along the campus perimeter for residents.
'Neighbors are not going to hear this campus,' McCarron said at the meeting, saying that Pioneer is 'not trying to redefine Yorkville.' He said innovations in equipment mean the data center's operations could get quieter over time, and said that there would be minimal daily traffic once the data center project is built.
But some residents expressed concern about potential noise, and with the way the build-out would unfold.
John Bryan, who spoke at the meeting and said he lives near the western edge of the proposed development area, expressed concern about the noise and traffic from construction before the data center project is actually built. He told The Beacon-News he took issue with the dust created by construction as well, and expressed concern about the potential environmental impact of data centers.
At the meeting, Bryan also said he bought his lot because it was zoned as residential, and said that he and his neighbors, who are not part of the city of Yorkville, will experience the 'burden' of the construction without representation from the council deciding whether or not to approve it.
Keith Landovitz, who said he and his wife also live just to the west of the proposed data center project, expressed concern about the 'disproportionate impact on people who are not residents of Yorkville.' He cited a particular issue with a proposal that the project build out from its west side, saying he would prefer a plan that built out from the center.
McCarron told The Beacon-News on Friday that the project phasing and order of construction has not yet been finalized.
Data centers' water use is another major concern that's arisen as these sorts of projects are considered locally, according to past reporting. Olson said the city is asking any data centers they allow in the area to use air-cooled chillers and closed-loop, water-cooled chillers that are more water-efficient to mitigate those concerns.
And all of these discussions are occurring during a time of significant growth for the area. Kendall County, for example, has been growing rapidly in recent years, and grappling with how to account for its increased numbers.
But the proposed area has remained undeveloped, Olson said. There had been a plan to build housing there around two decades ago, he noted, but it didn't come to fruition amid the 2008 financial crisis.
Olson said how a data center might fit into the area's future will be up to the council, but he pointed to efforts like the landscape buffer as one possible way to ease concerns about development and growth.
'They (residents) don't want dense development,' he said. 'They don't want buildings right up against the road. They want some areas to have viewing spaces and have everything kind of be uncluttered visually.'
And Project Cardinal is not the only proposed project on the horizon for Yorkville. The city has already approved another data center project, for which construction is set to begin on 230 acres next year, according to past reporting.
Another data center plan called Project Steel is also seeking the green light from Yorkville. That project is roughly half the size of Project Cardinal, and would include 24 data center buildings, according to the city. The city held a public hearing for it on June 24, and it's set to go next to the Economic Development Committee and Planning and Zoning Commission in August.
As for what's next for Project Cardinal, its rezoning, special use authorization for a PUD and preliminary PUD plan were recommended for approval by the Planning and Zoning Commission. The project is set to be discussed next at the July 22 City Council meeting. Olson said the preliminary approvals — the annexation agreement, rezoning, PUD and preliminary PUD plan — could be up for a vote by the City Council in August.
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