City staff in Forest Grove, Oregon, have denied an appeal against a data center development proposed by Crane Data Centers.
This is the second time residents have made an appeal against the data center project, reports the Business Tribune.
The data center campus proposed by Crane will be located at 2975 Heather Street in Forest Grove, west of Portland, Oregon. The site covers approximately 35 acres, and the buildings are expected to each span 178,750 sq ft (16,606 sqm), with Building 1 reaching a height of 45 feet and Building 2 reaching 70 feet.
The project first got the green light from planning staff in July, however, local residents filed an appeal against the development. During a September 3 meeting, the Planning Commission denied the appeal and voted in favor of the project.
A second appeal against the data center campus was filed, only for Forest Grove City Council to again approve the project, voting 5-0 during the October 14 meeting.
Community Development Director Bryan Pohl stated that there is nothing in the city codes that gives it a reason to reject the data center project, though acknowledges that residents are raising "legitimate concerns."
Crane will still need to get several other permits and approvals before constructing the campus from the likes of engineering and building divisions, and agencies like the Clean Water Services, the Department of Environmental Quality, and the Department of State Lands.
The project is being conducted in partnership with Principal Real Estate Investors and is seemingly Crane's first data center project.
The company was launched in 2019. Its CEO, Matt Pfile, previously spent a dozen years at Google, with roles in data center energy and location strategy.
The company aims to develop wholesale, powered shell, and build-to-suite hyperscale facilities, and lists planned projects across the US in California (Silicon Valley and Los Angeles), Arizona (Phoenix), Illinois (Chicago), Northern Virginia, Georgia, and Texas as well as Tokyo & Osaka in Japan, and Sydney and Melbourne in Australia.
