COWETA, Okla. — With one of the larger crowds ever at the Indian Capital Technology Center - or for a planning commission meeting, for that matter - the rezoning for Project Atlas was denied.
"I live five houses away from the property, the data center property," Coweta resident Genaro Garza told 2 News before the Jan. 19 planning commission meeting. "So it would mean air pollution, noise pollution, devalue of my property, (and) higher taxes from what I understand."
- Previous coverage>>> Final Coweta data center vote delayed to at least February
Dozens of residents both from and not from Coweta made their final pitch to the commission during public comments, which lasted more than two hours.
"I do feel for the people who live in this area, but sometimes change is difficult but sometimes change is necessary," one speaker in favor of the financial benefits to the city and school district said.
"I do intend on selling my home if this does come to fruition," a speaker against Project Atlas said. "I don't want to live next to a data center."
Reps from Beale Infrastructure, the developers of the land annexed by the city in October, pitched that while only creating a few dozen jobs, landscape buffers and recirculated water would minimize any impact to local resources and that the plan follows Coweta's comprehensive plan.
"Your phone is a window into a data center, and that's where that information lives and is processed," a rep for the company said.
The explanations did not sound convincing to the vast majority of the crowd on hand for the meeting, and more consequently it wasn't enough to turn members of the planning commission, who motioned and passed to deny the rezoning.
Coweta City Council is expected to still review the application in its Feb. 2 meeting, also planned to be held at ICTC.
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