In Lisle, Illinois, plans for a new data center are underway, just a day after a similar proposal in Naperville was rejected by the city council. The proposed site for this new data center is the former Lockformer Company location on Ogden Avenue.

The planning and zoning commission had scheduled a public hearing for Wednesday evening to discuss the proposal. However, the meeting had to be postponed due to an unexpectedly large turnout, necessitating a move to a larger venue.

Unlike the decisive rejection in Naperville, no immediate vote was expected at the Lisle meeting. Nonetheless, the proposal has sparked a significant debate about the suitability of suburban areas for such facilities.

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Local resident Vanessa Berry expressed her concerns, particularly about the environmental impact of diesel backup generators that would be part of the data center’s infrastructure.

These apprehensions echo those raised by residents of Naperville, where the city council voted against Karis Critical’s proposal for a 36-megawatt data center. The decision in Naperville underscores the ongoing discussions about the future of data centers in suburban communities.

The concerns sound similar to those who voiced opposition to the data center in Naperville, which went before a vote Tuesday night. The Naperville City Council decisively choosing to deny Karis Critical’s request to build a 36 MW data center.

About four miles away in Lisle, a proposal just coming to light for a 50 MW data center along Ogden Avenue, across the street from a subdivision and backing up to more homes, where residents are worried about the potential for air and noise pollution from diesel generators and other equipment.

“We would need to get a lot more information about what would be going across the street before anything is agreed upon,” said Matt Rego, who lives nearby proposed data center site.

“I’m worried about it, you know,” said Richard Brzostek, who lives nearby proposed data center site. “I’d rather not have it go over here.”

The proposed site used to be home to The Lockformer Company. The metal fabrication firm is infamous in the area for closing down after facing massive lawsuits in the early 2000s for contaminating local drinking water.

“It was a very difficult time for the residents of Lisle,” Lisle Mayor Mary Jo Mullen said. “There were a lot of people who were very sick, who had cancers, who died as a result of the contamination.”

Mayor Mullen says the vacancy left by Lockformer and others has pushed the tax burden more heavily onto residents.

“So the opportunity to redevelop on Lockformer,” Mullen said. “If it’s done correctly, is a real positive for the village.”

Still, the mayor says the developer, CloudCenters LLC, must present a plan that elected leaders believe will not impact the health and well-being of residents.

“It’s not that different of a conversation from a large factory 50 years ago going into your neighborhood, and so if that was being proposed, that a steel plant would go in next to your children’s school, I think those same questions would have existed,” UIC Chief Technology Officer Jason Maslanka said. “I think any time you’re talking about a giant building that has environmental impact going into a community, you’re going to have opposition.”

Wednesday’s meeting, that is now postponed, was set to be the first public hearing where Lisle residents would have been able to voice their concerns or support for the 256,000 square foot data center.

Some 200 seats, including in an overflow room, were set out for the public hearing, but many more people turned out to hear about this controversial project.

There were jeers and disappointment after village zoning officials were forced to postpone the gathering because of capacity rules.

“I think it says that the people, like, just don’t want these data centers, and rightfully so with the harm it does to the environment,” Lisle resident Anthony Kosar said.

“There’s a lot of kids. There’s a park right across the street,” Lisle resident Vanessa Berry said. “There’s a day care, like I don’t know, a quarter mile away. It’s very close. So there’s a lot of concerns.”

The proposal in Lisle also comes months after Aurora put a moratorium on new facilities.

“We will not trade a relief in the tax burden for the safety and well being of our families,” Lisle resident Ryan Jones said.

Officials say it could be three or four weeks before the meeting is rescheduled at a larger venue. Representatives of the data center developer, CloudCenters LLC, left the meeting without comment.