Third lawsuit filed trying to halt Yorkville data centers, second by community organization
A third lawsuit has been filed against the City of Yorkville, targeting the 540-acre Project Steel data center development. Filed by a community organization and residents, the suit alleges the city failed to follow public notice rules for rezoning and that impact studies were insufficient. It seeks to invalidate the rezoning and halt construction of the project.
The City of Yorkville, Illinois, is facing a third lawsuit attempting to halt the construction of one of its three approved data center campuses. The latest legal action, the second by community organization Preserve Our Yorkville & Community, LLC, specifically targets the 540-acre Project Steel, developed by Prologis LLC, which plans 16 two-story data warehouses over a 20-year period along the Eldamain Road corridor.
The lawsuit, filed with the Kendall County Circuit Court on May 22, alleges the city failed to adhere to public notice regulations prior to rezoning the land for Project Steel. It also claims that impact studies concerning sound, traffic, environmental factors, and property values were not comprehensive enough, particularly when considering the project's extended construction timeline and proximity to other approved data center developments. Plaintiffs, including individual residents and local businesses, are seeking declaratory and injunctive relief to invalidate the city's rezoning for Project Steel and halt construction, though they are not pursuing monetary damages. A case management conference is scheduled for August 7 at the Kendall County Courthouse.
This legal challenge follows a previous lawsuit by Preserve Our Yorkville & Community, LLC against the 1,034-acre Project Cardinal data center, and another individual lawsuit filed by resident John Bryan, also against Project Cardinal, citing concerns over property values and quality of life. Chuck Kasper of Preserve Our Yorkville & Community, LLC stated that the city is "sweeping aside the basic procedural protections that Illinois law guarantees every property owner," citing the city's own admission on its website that required notice for a public hearing for Project Steel was never given. The city has declined to comment on the active litigation, with City Administrator Bart Olson stating, "the city does not have any comment on active litigation."
Despite widespread public opposition, the Yorkville City Council granted near-unanimous approval for Project Steel's annexation, rezoning, and Planned Unit Development (PUD) on March 24. This mirrored previous approvals for Project Cardinal and a 228-acre CyrusOne data center. The city had previously considered approximately a dozen data center projects, but Mayor John Purcell announced in April that there is "no more appetite" for additional proposals beyond the three already approved, following the withdrawal of the 80-acre Meyer data center project.