Data Center Gets Approval From Naperville Planning And Zoning Commission

NAPERVILLE, IL — Naperville's planning and zoning commission voted 8 to 1 Thursday to approve a conditional use permit for Karis Critical Data Centers' development at the Lucent Center campus, city director of communications Linda LaCloche told Patch. She said Commissioner Naumes was the sole dissenting vote. The proposal has met with has met with resistance from neighboring residents, who flooded recent public hearings to express concerns over noise, air pollution and property values.

Karis spokesperson Patrick Skarr shared in a statement, "We are grateful for the significant time and thoughtful consideration the Plan Commission, community members, and city staff dedicated to reviewing our proposal to invest more than $250 million in modernizing 40 acres of the former Lucent campus."

He added, "Thanks to Naperville’s rigorous standards and Karis’ commitment to being a responsible neighbor, the plan has been refined and strengthened over the past several months."

As of Nov. 20, an online petition had more than 3,700 signatures of residents opposing the data center. The petition's statement reads, in part, "We strongly believe that no amount of 'conditions' can fully mitigate these risks. Once built, the impacts of a single 211,000-square-foot data center will be permanent and irreversible. We urge the City of Naperville Planning and Zoning Commission to deny [the proposed development] in its entirety to protect the health, safety, and quality of life of its residents."

The planning commission's vote on the Karis project had been delayed due to continued public hearings amid resident resistance.

At the Nov. 5 public hearing, the public comments presented included a statement from a group of more than two dozen local doctors opposing the data center.

During the first public hearing in September, Victoria May was among the residents who said expressed concerns about electric grid impact and noise pollution from the data center. She also mentioned that the center's proposed diesel backup generators "pose a lot of health risks, especially because they release particulate matter, nitrogen oxides, sulfur dioxide, carbon dioxide, which all cause respiratory problems and other health issues."

May added, "This is a profit-driven proposal. These companies do not have to live with the long-term consequences that we will live with."

Sarah Baugh echoed other speakers' concerns about energy, noise and environmental issues with the proposed data center, saying they do not seem to align with the zoning board's conditional use requirements.

"The sites that are located nearby are a meditation center, an inclusive sensory playground and the forest preserve and equestrian center," Baugh added. "How will industrial-scale noise, visual impacts and potential environmental risks affect the neighboring structures?"

The 211,000-square-foot data center is a reduction of the initial plan, which called for two data centers built in separate phases of construction, per city documents.

The bulk of the data center space would house interconnected computer systems, per the petition submitted Sept. 26. The building would also comprise a 30,000-square-foot office space for critical support personnel.

The data center building would incorporate cooling infrastructure on its rooftop and would provide equipment yard screening from Naperville and Warrenville Roads.

The item will now move to the city council for review.