Data center plans near Yorkville meets resident opposition

Green Door Capital claims to have put Yorkville on the map for data center development. After two packed public hearings with community members arguing the residential areas of the map they call home are for families, not industry, has the town’s tolerance for new data centers run out of bandwidth?

Plans for what would become the town’s fifth approved data center campus stumbled at the Planing and Zoning Commission’s Feb. 12 meeting.

Following a public hearing full of opposition, the commission approved recommending to City Council rezoning one 50-acre parcel for manufacturing and data center use, but rejected recommending annexing and rezoning two other parcels totaling 62.54 acres because of their proximity to residential homes.

The night before, at a public hearing during the Feb. 11 City Council meeting, the hearing turned emotional for many of the speakers who said the communities they are raising their children in are being lost.

David Hamman, on behalf of Kelaka LLC requested rezoning all three properties, totaling 112.44 acres, for the purpose of constructing a large data center campus.

The two unincorporated properties are located south of Faxon Road and west of Iroquois Lane. Immediately east is the Kylyns Ridge residential subdivision. The third property, located within city limits, is less than a half-mile southwest of the other two, north of U.S. Route 34, east of Eldamain Road.

Kelaka is also involved with a 148-acre data center project south of Santa Fe railroad, east of Eldamain Road. On that site, they’re partnering with Green Door Capital, who is also converting 138-acres on the Hagemann Property into a data center campus. Kelaka intends to work with Green Door Capital on the Hamman property.

“We’ve been working very hard to attract data centers, and quite frankly, we’ve helped to put Yorkville on the map, literally worldwide, for a data center development community,” said Matt Gilbert, representing Green Door Capital during the Planning and Zoning meeting. “We were the group that attracted CyrusOne to the area.”

Alderman Chris Funkhouser said during the Planning and Zoning meeting that while the Kelaka has made compromises, like a 250-foot setback to Kylyns Ridge, and limiting any buildings to 55 feet in height, he would be in opposition of the project when it comes before City Council.

“There’s one thing about this project that the other data center projects do not have, it’s the only one that abuts a residential property,” Funkhouser said. “If you look at [Yorkville’s] zoning, there’s only one parcel that is manufacturing adjacent to an existing residential use. And it’s about a 1,200 foot [setback].”

Funkhouser said thoughtful planning is necessary because data centers can be a vital asset to the community. Each data center campus is projected to bring in millions of dollars in tax revenues annually for the city.

“I do support data centers in our community, they have benefit,” Funkhouser said. “We currently have about 1,000 acres that are under development review. We have 3,000 acres that have been under discussion with city staff in planning right now.”

Resident Brian Carrabotta said during the City Council public hearing there’s been a dark cloud hanging over his neighborhood since the annexation and rezoning notices near Kylyns Ridge were received.

“My wife and I moved to Yorkville to grow our family and be part of a welcoming community,” Brian Carrabotta said. “Do we continue to make our houses into homes, or is Hamman-Kelaka and this Yorkville City Council pushing for us to put ‘for sale’ signs in front of our yard. We did not sign up to live in manufacturing zones.”

Carrabotta said with 270 acres southwest of his neighborhood converted to manufacturing, and an additional 200 acres north slated for data center development, he fears the hundreds living in Kylyns Ridge and the Kendall Marketplace will be surrounded by manufacturing.

Bailey Carrabotta, Brian’s wife, said during the public hearing she fears the reasons they chose to move to Yorkville are being lost. She expressed concerns residential lots will remain undeveloped if manufacturing dominates their backyards.

“Yorkville had all the conveniences of suburbia and the laid back quietness of corn fields and farmland,” Bailey Carrabotta said. “We fear converting the land directly behind our homes to manufacturing will bring non-residential traffic, constant noise and light pollution, and likely impact the value of our homes. And with the empty lots, who knows if our sidewalk will ever be complete for the kids to enjoy.”

She said the home they’ve made was one they intended on living in for the rest of their lives.

“Like many other homeowners who will be affected, we have poured so much time, money, and love into our homes,” Carrabotta said. “Please don’t promote the destruction of our investments and consider the number of lives impacted by these decisions.”

Dawn Watson, of Cannonball Estates, warned during the City Council public hearing of the domino effect the project could create throughout several neighborhoods. She said the manufacturing looks horrible on the landscape and poses safety concerns.

“How is it that we’re having a family-centered community with Kylyns Ridge, Blackberry Shore, Cannonball Estates, Whispering Meadows, and we’re turning it into industrial?” Watson said. “We are not an industrial area. We do not want to live in an industrial area. Let’s talk about those small children that are playing outside. We don’t need them exposed to additional pollution.”

A final vote for the Hamman-Kelaka, LLC data center development is scheduled for the March 11 City Council meeting.