Eagle Mountain rezoning for possible data center draws little opposition

EAGLE MOUNTAIN — While proposed data centers have sparked heated debates in communities across Utah and the country, a public hearing in Eagle Mountain drew little public interest Tuesday night.

Only two residents offered public comment during a planning commission meeting on a rezoning request that could eventually make way for another data center near existing facilities already operating in the city.

South of Eagle Mountain, surrounded by open land, two major data center projects already dominate the area.

Meta has operated its Eagle Mountain data center for about five years and employs roughly 1,200 people. Another facility, QTS Data Centers, is expected to be completed in the coming months and is projected to bring about 2,000 jobs to the area.

City leaders said residents have become familiar with how data centers operate and the economic benefits they can provide.

"What's happening here is very new, different technology than what's happening across the U.S.," said Eagle Mountain Economic Development Director Abby Ivory. "This is going in an area that really can't be used or developed for anything else."

She believes the city's approach to educating residents and working closely with data center operators has helped build public trust.

The discussion centered on a request from property owner Reagan Peck, who owns 41 acres adjacent to the Meta and QTS sites.

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The small, quiet town of Mona, Utah, is known for being antidevelopment — or at least it was, until a massive data center was approved for the county.

Peck told the commission the request is simply to change the property's zoning and does not guarantee a data center will be built there.

"It doesn't mean it's going to be a data center," Peck said. "We don't have a buyer right now; we don't have a builder. We want to make sure we have this development agreement, this zoning in place so that if we were to advertise it, we could control how we did it."

However, the zoning change would allow the property to be marketed for that use in the future if the owner chooses to sell.

When the public comment period opened, only two residents addressed the commission.

One urged city leaders to move cautiously.

"If there is no need, don't do it," said Elbamara Perez. "We really need to figure out what's going on in the city we are living in."

Another resident encouraged commissioners to carefully consider the long-term impact of the decision.

"Consider carefully what you are opening up and what your making possible when you do this," said Teresa Edwards.

Despite those concerns, the planning commission unanimously voted to recommend approval of the zoning change and forward it to the City Council for final consideration.

The rezoning proposal is expected to go before the Eagle Mountain City Council next month, where members of the public will have another opportunity to comment.

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