The latest rage to hit our borders

Data Centers!

Now that I have your attention, let’s talk a little today about this threat to our peace of mind.

My total direct knowledge of data centers: Zilch. Zero. None. Until recently, I’d never heard of ‘em. Gotta store all that techno brainpower somewhere.

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What little I’ve learned: They soak up water and electricity at alarming rates. They employ very few people. They emit an aggravating low-frequency hum; someone demonstrated that noise at a County Commission meeting recently, and boy, was that an ear-opener.

They are also a property tax cash cow. They’re expensive to build and require very few government services, so that’s just money in the County Commission’s budget pocket.

Someone wants to build one in Holder. Deltona Corp., which owns the vacant 557-acre Holder Industrial Park on U.S. 41 near C.R. 491, is asking the county to expand it by another 799 acres for a data center and other unnamed heavy industrial uses.

The county planning board will hear it on Thursday. It’ll eventually end up with the County Commission.

A few thoughts:

— I don’t know squat about data centers. But I know plenty about zoning and compatibility. The county sign with today’s photo is off Tram Road, along the eastern border of the proposed expansion. It’s a beautiful country lane, the definition of quiet, rural living. 

It wouldn’t seem that heavy industry is compatible with peace and quiet, but what do I know?

— Speaking of that, every single Citrus County politician who’s come down the pike the last 30 years has said the EXACT SAME THING about economic growth: Light industry. Always “clean, light industry.” That’s our goal. I’ve heard it from candidates who didn’t win and those sitting on the dais.

You tell me whether this is a clean, light industry. From what I’m seeing, a data center is a cannonball in our Citrus County kiddie pool.

— A little about the politics of this particular industrial park. This wasn’t actually, you know, our idea. Duke Energy conducted economic-development studies on Citrus County’s behalf and determined this huge vacant cow pasture in Holder best fit that need. It intersects a Duke power transmission line and the Florida Gas Transmission pipeline.

That’s different from, for example, the Inverness Airport Business Park. There, the County Commission made a deliberate decision to buy 80 acres of land for aviation-related economic development.

The county doesn’t own the Holder land. Deltona does. The county is very involved in the marketing and facilitating of the property to appropriate users. They’re thrilled with this park’s potential for hundreds of well-paying jobs. Just a few months back, the county happily accepted a big $2.8 million check from the governor to provide water/sewer utilities to the site.

So, yeah, the county has high hopes for the Holder Industrial Park. We’ll see how commissioners balance that upside with massive public downside.

— One more really government geeky thing, then we’re done. The county should never EVER approve land-development changes without a specific plan in hand first.

This goes way back. The county used to OK zoning changes. You know…residential to commercial, that kind of thing. Nothing too specific.

Then planned unit developments, or PUDs, became the thing. Rather than a simple black/white zoning change, developers and the county reach agreements specific to the plan. Developers typically receive more than they would in a regular zoning change, and the county receives guarantees of what’s to come.

PUDs are great when handled properly. A problem that I’ve noticed in recent years is a developer gets approval for a PUD, then returns a year later to add something they couldn’t get the first time around.

What’s worse — and frankly unacceptable in today’s climate — is approving a significant land-use change without a PUD. That's what this developer is asking. It's a blank canvas.

Vague doesn't work. Promises of this and that at public hearings are meaningless. If it’s not in writing, it doesn’t exist.

— Some Citrus Countians are true experts on these things, and this report from the 1000 Friends of Florida explains the data-center issue very well. 

The county is looking to regulate them through the Land Development Code, and the Legislature is considering bills related to data centers. Some wonder if this application is premature.

I’m eager to learn more. If someone wants to explain why these things are not disruptive, I’m all ears. Show me the data.

Have a beautiful Tuesday, friends.

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