Be vigilant on issues with data centers

I was alarmed to read the Daily Herald’s June 18 article that stated, “Naperville Mayor Scott Wehrli and City Manager Doug Krieger met with developer Karis Critical and JLL … at the Naperville Development Partnership last month, according to a memo.” Only five months ago, the Naperville City Council rejected a data center proposed by Karis after overwhelming opposition by residents.

City Councilman Patrick Kelly summed things up by saying, “I find that petitioner has not met its burden by preponderance to show that the use will not be detrimental to public health, safety, general welfare and that failure alone justifies denials of the application.” The site Karis now wants to build on is less than three miles away from the one they originally proposed and just as large.

The meeting with Karis took place around the same time as the Illinois General Assembly failed to pass the POWER Act, which would have required data centers to source or supply renewable energy and submit quarterly water use reports. In addition, although a Naperville Development Partnership study that looked at zoning was done only one year ago, another plan for “future development” is currently being done, with City Manager Doug Krieger stating that “our zoning there is dated,” according to the Naperville Sun.

In my opinion, the meeting with Karis should not have been held. Our residents need to remain vigilant in vocally opposing any data center from being built in our community that potentially threatens our health, environment and savings.

Linda Nisonoff

Naperville