Palm Beach County planners have recommended approval of a controversial data center proposed near the Arden residential development and Saddle View Elementary School in the Loxahatchee area.
The county Zoning Division, though, would require the applicant, PBA Holdings, to meet several conditions aimed at reducing potential impacts. Those stipulations include:
In announcing their support, county planners noted PBA Holdings substantially revised its December filing by reducing the proposed data center buildings from 1.3 million square feet to 1 million square feet and cutting the project’s overall size by about 97,000 square feet, or 9%.
Why other new conditions on data center project?
The limit on water use is designed to address concerns the project will consume too much water to cool its batteries and negatively impact the Palm Beach County Water Utilities Department.
Although lithium iron phosphate batteries are generally considered safer and more stable than some other lithium-ion chemistries, battery systems and electrical equipment can still present hazards when exposed to floodwater. Keeping the containers above expected flood levels helps avoid electrical failures, short circuits, and other safety issues.
County staff was also concerned that the noise survey was too limited and did not consider impacts at Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge. PBA Holdings will now have to extend its survey into the refuge.
Ernie Cox, project manager for PBA Holdings, told The Palm Beach Post that he is pleased that staff recognized the changes it made to the datacenter proposal since the initial filing.
“The staff report was very detailed, and we can accept the conditions they have recommended,” said Cox.
The data center would be separated from the Arden development by 1,150 feet, including a 400-foot-wide wildlife corridor, a 500-foot-wide canal, and a 250-foot-wide berm. The 127-acre parcel is on the north side of Southern Boulevard, west of the L-8 Canal, about 3.4 miles west of Seminole Pratt Whitney Road.
The concessions are designed to appease Arden residents and critics of the project who have claimed that the buffers are not sufficient to curtail the expected noise from the data center.
The project is scheduled for its first review before the county Zoning Commission on Thursday, July 2.
County commissioners are expected to act on the commission’s recommendation on July 15. Neither the Zoning Commission nor the County Commission is bound to accept the recommendation from county planners but it is routinely given consideration in arriving at a decision.
Meanwhile, a legal challenge threatens to derail the project.
WPG Logistics, which also owns 60 acres of land adjacent to the PBA Holdings parcel, is seeking an emergency injunction to compel PBA Holdings to withdraw its filing.
WPG wants to build its own data center. Without the injunction, WPG says it will suffer “irreparable harm.”
Lawsuit and rival data center filing have complicated the issue
The WPG lawsuit alleges the companies had agreed to jointly develop warehouses, office space, and a data center on the 242-acre Central Park Commerce site. WPG claims PBA Holdings failed to honor the agreement.
Earlier this month, WPG Logistics filed documents with the county to build its own data center on the 60 acres it owns. County planners have just begun to review the application.
However, WPG’s plans will not be considered at any of the public hearings held by county officials or panels this month. It is unclear when the court will hear WPG’s request for an emergency injunction to prevent the public hearings for PBA Holdings from occurring.
WPG now wants to replace its approved warehouse buildings with four data-center ones totaling 1.1 million square feet. If approved, the result, according to county planners, would be 2.2 million square feet of data-center use across the two projects.
And since the applications are being filed under the Economic Development Center use, the property owners could modify their proposals to achieve 100% data center use, totaling nearly 3.6 million square feet, according to the county report released on June 26.
The Economic Development Center designation is intended to accommodate employment opportunities, research parks and employment centers. Industrial uses must be limited to those with light industrial characteristics, according to the county Zoning Division.
An abandoned concrete batch plant, considered a heavy industrial use, is located on the PBA Holdings site. Staff noted the data center would replace that use, and that the data center would be preferable to a resurgent concrete batch plant.
Meanwhile, WPG Logistics’ recent filing seeks administrative approval, which would allow the project to proceed without public hearings or a final vote by county commissioners. A decision on whether it can do so has not yet been made.
The Stop Project Tango website argues that the PBA Holdings project poses serious risks to public health, school and community safety, environmental protection and local finances.
“Residents could face long-term costs from health issues, infrastructure strain, emergency response needs, environmental mitigation, and declining property values if this project moves forward,” according to the website. It notes that the date center would be located within 1,000 feet of Saddle View Elementary, and within 10 miles of at least 20 public, private, charter and early-learning schools.
Another issue, according to critics, is that Project Tango could raise electricity and water costs for residents of West Palm Beach and Palm Beach County. Hyperscale AI data centers can consume as much electricity as small cities, critics say.
A large turnout is expected for the July 2 Project Tango public hearing, prompting officials to consider limiting speakers to 2 minutes each.
Mike Diamond is a journalist at The Palm Beach Post, part of the USA TODAY Florida Network. He covers Palm Beach County government. You can reach him at mdiamond@pbpost.com. Help support local journalism. Subscribe today.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Exclusive. County planners back controversial data center near Arden
Reporting by Mike Diamond, Palm Beach Post / Palm Beach Post
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By Mike Diamond, Palm Beach Post | USA TODAY Network
