Yorkville tabled the rezoning vote for the 80-acre Meyer data center, proposed near the Caledonia subdivision.

The recently downsized proposal was unanimously voted down by the city’s planning and zoning commission on Jan. 14 after hours of residents speaking out against the proposal.

City Council has the power to override the commission’s recommendation.

The developers Yorkville Nexus V LLC, Green Door Capital, have made changes to the proposal since the commission’s vote. The city has not sent the proposal back to the commission for a second look.

No new public hearings are currently scheduled.

The City Council tabled the vote during the March 24 meeting and is likely to take it up again during its April 14 meeting.

The project’s site is south of Corneils Road and east of Beecher Road. The developers are requesting to rezone two western parcels totaling 91 acres to manufacturing for data center usage. The developers have agreed to leave the 37-acre eastern parcel near Caledonia zoned for multi-family residence and is donated it to the city.

Within the site plans is a 1,500 foot setback to the nearest residential structure in Caledonia and an agreement not to develop east of Rob Roy Creek.

During the meeting, Sean Reynolds, of Green Door Capital, said a PUD would be submitted at a later date after an end-user is found. He said the changes, including the increased setbacks, are designed to better accommodate the residents’ wishes.

“We have listened to city and staff, we have listened to residents to the east in Caledonia and incorporated these things to make a great project for the city and residents,” Reynolds said during the meeting.

The middle 40-acre parcel of the site will be limited to single-story warehouses and an 8-foot landscape berm with trees will shield the campus from nearby residents, he said.

During the meeting, in which City Council approved the 540-acre Project Steel data center, with 16 two-story warehouses, a parade of residents spoke out against turning the entire 3,000 acre Eldamain Corridor into one giant data center alley.

Residents from Caledonia expressed concerns with possible sound, light and environmental pollution, in addition to the unsightly nature of the warehouses so close to their homes.

Resident Lori Tesco, who lives on Corneils Road, said she was concerned about the 10-20 years of construction and the huge increase in pollution and traffic it will cause in the area.

She admonished the number of union tradesmen speaking in favor of the projects, saying while they will benefit from the work, they won’t have to live in the middle of a manufacturing zone.

“The whole thing just stinks,” Tesco said during the meeting. “And for all these union people out here, I worked in the union for 32 years, so I’m not anti-union. But, I don’t need to hear this crap.”

Included in the Meyer data center plans, the developers have committed to a $10 million impact fee for the 80 acres of development. The developers have agreed to pay a “non-refundable prepayment of $1 million” at the recording of the proposed rezoning, according to city documents.

Similar agreements were approved by the city with the developers of Project Steel, and separately the 1,034 acre Project Cardinal data center. City Administrator Bart Olson previously said the money is being sent by the city to the Yorkville School District 115 for expanded facilities, the fire district, city projects, and charitable community organizations.

The petitioner is Matt Gilbert, who is representing Green Door Capital with other data center projects in town, like the already approved 228-acre CyrusOne data center with nine, two-story warehouses.

Olson addresses ‘hot mic’ incident

During the meeting, Olson addressed the “hot mic” incident from the six-hour March 10 meeting in which Project Cardinal won approval.

During that meeting, with a full house and around 165 people participating on Zoom, a microphone during a meeting recess picked up someone mocking residents who were speaking out against data centers.

The comments were widely discussed by residents in Zoom’s group chat feature and one in-person resident addressed the City Council about it during the meeting.

During the March 24 meeting, the city disabled the chat feature on Zoom so residents could not talk amongst themselves. One resident accused the city of silencing their voices.

Olson said the “hot mic” incident did not come from the city.

“A resident accused the City Council members of speaking disrespectfully about members of the public during a meeting recess,” Olson said during the meeting. “The comments did not originate from the city elected officials or staff members.”