Public hearing set Monday on Monticello data center proposal
The Monticello City Council will hold a public hearing on land-use applications for a proposed 547-acre data center campus south of 85th Street NE and east of Highway 25. Residents have raised concerns about groundwater, electricity demand, noise, environmental impacts, infrastructure costs and the project’s scale before the council decides whether to approve the applications.
The Monticello City Council is scheduled to hear public comments Nov. 9 on applications for the proposed Edmonson Business Center, a roughly 547-acre data center campus. The applications seek preliminary plat approval, rezoning to several districts—including a Data Center Planned Unit Development—and a conditional use permit for data center operations. The council could act at the hearing or continue the matter, with the city’s extended review deadline set for Dec. 8.
The Monticello Planning Commission recommended approval in a 4-1 vote after an Oct. 6 hearing attended by about 150 people. Residents questioned the project’s potential effects on groundwater, electricity demand, noise, neighboring properties and the environment, as well as the estimated $70 million in public infrastructure improvements. The proposal could require more than 500 megawatts of electricity and use about 75,000 gallons of water per day with closed-loop cooling. City Administrator Rachel Leonard said staff are preparing a summary of residents’ concerns and how they relate to existing regulations or possible additional protections.