Residents opposing data centers in Yorkville erupted in applause when the mayor announced the developers behind the proposed data center near the Caledonia subdivision have withdrawn their plans after losing City Council support.

Mayor John Purcell indicated at the Tuesday meeting there’s “no more appetite” from the City Council for data center proposals outside of what’s already been approved.

The 80-acre Meyer data center proposal, by Yorkville Nexus V LLC, Green Door Capital, had recently been downsized further away from the subdivision after unanimously being voted down by the city’s planning and zoning committee.

Purcell said the developer’s changes to the proposal were not enough to secure City Council support even though the city gave near-unanimous approval to three other large data center projects – the 1,034 acre Project Cardinal, the 540-acre Project Steel, and the 228-acre CyrusOne data center.

With the city originally eyeing 3,000 acres of data center development along the Eldamain Corridor that included around a dozen separate proposals, the news of a pause on future proposals comes as a major shift in the city’s economic development plans.

“(The developers) communicated with us the other day they wanted to withdraw their petition,” Purcell said at the April 14 City Council meeting. “That means that petition will not be considered further...It really hinged on the conversation we’ve had with (the developers) the last several days. There just wasn’t the support from the council to put data centers there.”

The announcement comes in the wake of several consecutive city meetings stretching long into the night with residents voicing their opposition to data centers.

It also comes after a group of residents staged a public protest over the weekend and hired an attorney to fight future approval of more data centers.

And last week State Rep. Jed Davis, R- Yorkville, said his polling shows residents are “overwhelmingly” against the projects, leading him to oppose future data centers as proposed.

Purcell said the city can’t stop developers from applying in the future, but the message by the city is clear.

“The council said we’ve approved what we’re willing to approve now, I know there’s some others interested in coming,” Purcell said. “The message has been given real clearly that there’s no more appetite at this point. We’ve approved several and I think the council did a wonderful job reviewing all those.”

Purcell indicated the loss of City Council support will effectively shut down all other proposals that have not already been approved.

He said several data center proposals have already been in various stages of the rezoning process but have not submitted PUD proposals.

“Other than the project tonight and CyrusOne’s (second project,) we have no one who’s communicated with us that they’re ready to apply or start a new project,” Purcell said. “There has been rezoning approved, but no PUD for those specific properties. I think if somebody comes on those, the message will be the same – we feel like we’ve got plenty right now. Let’s see if the proof is in the pudding.”

When asked what made the Meyer proposal different from the three previously approved projects, Purcell said there was “several different reasons” it lost council support and that the “proximity to the subdivision was probably one of them.”

He said the other projects had been discussed by the city for about two years, when the other projects “came in later.”

During the meeting, residents continued to voice their frustrations for the city pursuing the projects in the face of such vocal public opposition.

“The people of Yorkville see what’s happening, we see the scale, we see the money, we see the pressure, and we see the lack of transparency,” resident Caryn Macek said. “We’re done being treated like the obstacle. You work for us. So, please act like it.”

Macek said this can serve as a watershed moment for the city.

“This is the moment where you decide what kind of council you’re going to be remembered as,” Macek said. “The council that listened to its residents, respected the public, demanded full transparency, made the decisions in-open, or the council that let billion dollar interests reshape Yorkville.”

Mayor: Data centers have benefits

Purcell said the City Council approved the other three projects because “they felt the benefit to the community definitely outweighed the potential negatives.”

He said allegations of under-the-table payments from developers to city officials is “slander.”

“I get people get frustrated, but I can promise you that’s not happening with any alderman and myself,” Purcell said.

He said the other projects are far enough from subdivisions, are paying for 100% for their road, sewer and water infrastructure improvements and are contributing around $91 million up-front total to the city as part of their development agreements.

Purcell said if they get built out, Project Cardinal and Project Steel with become two of the largest private sector employers in the city.

The city has touted the $500,000 to $1 million each individual building could generate in annual tax revenues.

“They’re going to do great things for Yorkville as far as the tax base,” Purcell said. “You can’t have property taxes go down with only houses and new schools. 70% of your property tax bill is for schools. Schools are expensive. The state funding doesn’t work. Those are the cards we were dealt.

“I’ve heard people say taxes are high here (for years.) We need industry,” he continued. “We have industry, (with the data centers), that will provide minimal impact. Their water needs will be 75-85% less than a residential subdivision on the same property.”

Purcell said the City Council has been “very transparent” and city staff have answered residents’ concerns, like water usage, several times already. He said things like electricity rates are out of their control, and are increasing regionally regardless of the city’s data center plans.