Residents voice concerns over sound, water usage on day of Project Tango vote
The Palm Beach County Commission is currently voting on "Project Tango," a hyperscale AI data center near Arden. Residents and the Western Palm Beach County Alliance are actively opposing the project, raising concerns about its significant water usage, noise levels, power consumption, and its classification under county industrial codes. Developers are seeking approval for additional square footage for the data center on a site already approved for similar development in 2016.
The Palm Beach County Commission is holding a critical vote on "Project Tango," a proposed hyperscale AI data center situated near Arden. This decision follows months of public opposition and delays, with the developers seeking approval for additional square footage beyond the 2 million square feet of data center and warehouse space already approved for the site in 2016.
Residents and advocacy groups, including the Western Palm Beach County Alliance, have voiced significant concerns to the Commission. Key issues include the project's substantial water usage, potential noise and vibrations, and power consumption. Developers state their closed-loop water cooling system would use approximately 600,000 gallons of water, though the frequency of water changes and disposal remains unclear. Opponents fear evaporation and the creation of "heat islands" from the cooling process, a concern the developers dispute.
A central point of contention revolves around the project's industrial classification. The county code currently designates "data and information processing" as light industrial. However, the Western Palm Beach County Alliance argues that a hyperscale data center like Project Tango should be classified as heavy industrial due to its scale and potential impacts, a distinction the developers reject. Commissioners have been actively questioning experts from both sides, with an Alliance member expressing pleasant surprise at the depth of their inquiries.
The public comment period has seen over 80 people request to speak, with the meeting room at full capacity and overflow areas utilized. While the majority of comments have been critical, some community members have advocated for a fair and predictable approval process, irrespective of support for this specific project. A county staff official confirmed that a tie vote on the project would result in a denial, but the commissioners' final decision had not been made at the time of reporting.