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The public hearing for the Hamman-Kelaka, LLC data center development necessary annexations and rezoning is 7 p.m., Feb. 11, during the City Council meeting at City Hall, 651 Prairie Pointe Drive, Yorkville. There will also be a public hearing before the Planning and Zoning Commission on Feb. 12 at City Hall.
David Hamman, on behalf of Kelaka, LLC, is requesting rezoning of three separate properties totaling 112.44 acres for the purpose of constructing large data center industrial buildings.
Immediately east to the data center development proposal is the Kylyn’s Ridge residential subdivision. The Fox Valley YMCA is also adjacent to the property.
The three agricultural properties need to be rezoned from residential to manufacturing. Two of the properties, totaling 62.54 acres, are currently unincorporated and need to first be annexed by the city.
The two unincorporated properties are located south of Faxon Road and west of Iroquois Lane. The third property is within city limits and less than a half-mile southwest of the other two, north of U.S. Route 34, and east of Eldamain Road.
Because of the proposed development’s proximity to residential areas, city staff recommended the development team to hold a community meeting for residents. This meeting was held on Jan. 29 at the Old Second Bank.
With the concerns of neighboring residents in mind, two significant conditions to the development’s plans are being considered by city staff.
The first involves placing restrictions on the properties to only allow certain types of developments if the data center development falls through after the properties are rezoned for manufacturing uses.
If a data center campus is not developed on the site, the city would only permit uses such as a medical clinic, a retail store, automobile sales, a brewery, and a refrigerated warehouse, according to city documents.
The second condition is any future development must incorporate a minimum 100-foot landscaped buffer from the area’s residential areas and major roadways. The developers previously requested the city to approve plans without a 100-foot setback along Eldamain Road and U.S. Route 34.
No matter what will actually be constructed on the site, any future development plans must be formally approved by the city council.
Kelaka proposes placing a stormwater management area between their manufacturing buildings and the Kylyn’s Ridge subdivision to provide some separation.
To accommodate the area’s transition from agricultural to manufacturing, the city’s Comprehensive Plan must be amended for the area from “residential” to “general industrial.”
“Staff supports this annexation request, as it aligns with the Comprehensive Plan’s strategy to close unincorporated ‘gap’ areas within Yorkville’s corporate boundaries, promoting managed growth and ensuring high-quality future development,” city documents state.
Kelaka is also involved with a previously approved data center campus by the city council. This project involved annexing and rezoning 148-acres of agricultural property located south of Santa Fe railroad and east of Eldamain Road.
On that site, Kelaka is teaming up with the developers Green Door Capital, who is also converting 138-acres on the Hagemann Property into a large data center campus. Kelaka says they would like to work with Green Door Capital on the Hamman property as well.