A Lake County municipality has officially voiced its opposition to the Grayslake T5 data center, but not without internal strife, reflecting growing tension across Illinois over developments that have sparked debate within both the largest and smallest forms of Illinois government.
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Avon Township’s meeting Tuesday was an unusually packed occasion, similar to many recent local government meetings as residents and advocates voice their concerns with the data center and begin building a grassroots opposition movement.
The township’s resolution is unlikely to have any direct impact on the Grayslake project; despite large portions of the village sitting within Avon Township, the T5 data center is actually in Fremont Township.
Data center pushback
The Grayslake project is likely to face a legal challenge in the near future according to Chloe Russell, the attorney representing the Lake County Data Center Opposition Coalition. Russell is also working with similar groups in Yorkville and Joliet regarding data center projects in those communities.
And on the state level, Gov. J.B. Pritzker recently issued an executive order pausing tax incentives for data centers starting in July. That move followed the failure of several data center-related measures in the General Assembly.
State Sen. Darby Hills, R-Barrington Hills, has proposed legislation she says would help address rising concerns by requiring more local input on data center projects, protecting residential areas with a buffer zone, and address water, contamination, conservation and noise concerns.
Hills said she wasn’t against data centers in industrial zones, but emphasized the protection of residential areas.
The T5 site has been zoned light industrial for some time, which village officials have said was part of the reason the project was approved so quickly. The site is just across Peterson Road from the future location of the Ivanhoe Village in Mundelein, a massive, 800-acre housing and commercial development expected to be built over two decades.
“I’m not necessarily against innovation,” Hills said. “I need to make sure we’re protecting our residential areas and making sure that there’s not any concerns regarding water usage, water pollution, noise pollution, and all of the above.”
On the county level, the County Board approved a public hearing for enacting its own moratorium on data center projects in unincorporated areas during Tuesday’s meeting, saying it would give the county time to make specific regulations as more projects appear across the country.
Several board members voiced their support of the moratorium, including Esiah Campos, district 16, who released a statement saying the county would establish a “model framework” to serve as a “blueprint for municipalities and villages throughout the region and beyond.”
“If we take the time to do this correctly, other communities will be able to adopt proven regulations that protect residents while providing clear expectations for industry partners,” Campos said.
All of these moves, including the Avon Township resolution, are unlikely to have an impact on the Grayslake data center.
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National topic, local debate
Avon Township’s resolution passed with four ayes and an abstaining vote from Supervisor Michele Bauman. Several board members voiced their frustrations with how the resolution came to the agenda, arguing they hadn’t had time to share their input, but ultimately voted in favor.
But Bauman also had more fundamental concerns with the resolution. She argued that because the township holds no governmental authority over the development, it was improper for Avon to take an official position.
She viewed it as overstepping the township’s authority and boundaries, and read out an alternate resolution calling for “transparency, public information and community engagement,” that could be approved at the board’s next meeting.
Bauman called for residents to continue voicing their concerns about the data center to Grayslake, Fremont Township, and other government bodies that have some authority over the development. She repeatedly emphasized she was neither for nor against the data center, a stance reflected in a much more neutral tone in her alternate resolution.
But the residents gathered Tuesday were not receptive to Bauman’s more conciliatory resolution — which among other changes cut out references to potential negative impacts of a data center — nor her view of the township’s civic role in the data center fight, which sparked a back-and-forth debate from the crowd that had to be tamped down several times.
Board members Lizbeth Henning and Rebecca Nieder said they had previously brought the data center issue during a previous meeting, but had been told to bring it to the agenda. In response to Bauman’s views on the appropriateness of the resolution, Henning said that the community had concerns, and “we represent the people.”
“It’s affecting the seniors and the people in my community, that’s concerning to me,” Henning said.