By Pauline Masson –
The Pacific Board of Aldermen is skating on thin ice right now as a one-year moratorium on future data centers in the City may or may not cancel the application submitted by Crooked Creek Farm and BLE Beltline Enterprises to build a data center near Pacific.
Aldermen discussed the fine print of a proposed one-year moratorium on future data centers in the city at the July 21 board of aldermen (BOA) meeting during the first reading of the bill, which is now identified as a “stay of acceptance.”
The mayor noted the bill will have to be scheduled for a second reading to become law.
The crux of the stay is that the city will not accept any applications for data centers in Pacific for a year. But the stays leaves the Beltline application on soft ground.
Beltline officials appeared at the January 7 BOA meeting to present plans for a $16 billion data center complex, identified as the Meramec Valley Technology Park, on the Crooked Creek Beef farm on Phelan Road.
The following month, the Planning and Zoning (P&Z) commission had on its agenda an application that Bill McLaren and BLE Beltline submitted, requesting that the City rezone the Crooked Creek Beef farm from agricultural to light industrial with a planned unit development (PUD) for the purpose of developing a data center.
At that meeting, Beltline requested that P&Z postpone the public hearing on the plan since the firm had not be able to reach an agreement with the City on funding environmental impact studies.
Speaking Tuesday evening, Aldermen Scott Lesh worried that the city had accepted the Beltline application, taken some action and incurred some cost. The city zoning officer and city attorney reviewed the application and the City wrote letters and published notices of a public hearing on the Beltline Energy’s data center application.
P&Z cancelled the public hearing, sending irate citizens home without the opportunity to speak. And that, Mr. Lesh said leaves the city with some obligations.
“We accepted the application, we charged Beltline for submitting it and our staff reviewed it,” he said. “I think we have an obligation to hold the public hearing.”
In the interim the city has not heard from Beltline on the status of the planned data center.
Alderman James Cleeve questioned the city’s obligation for a pubic hearing if Beltline does no show up.
“We hold it either way,” Mr. Lesh said.
He said a public hearing without Beltline would still give citizens the description of what Beltline plans to build – which no one knows for now – and allow citizens to speak, which they were denied when the public hearing was postponed. It would also mean the city won’t be required to refund the $7,800 that Beltline paid to submit the application.
New City Attorney Joe Bond, with Cunningham, Vogel & Rost, who amended or re-wrote the moratorium during the P&Z meeting, said in his opinion his version of the moratorium stops the Beltline application and the city won’t be obligated to hold a public hearing on the application. But in typical attorney speak, there is wild card. A provision in law allows Beltline to claim hardship and insist that the public hearing on its application take place. If Beltline were to claim a hardship, the city would be obligated to hold a hearing on the claim, the attorney said.
He was also cautious on whether the city would have to refund Beltline’s application fee if the project is cancelled. He said some cities do refund fees under such circumstances. It depends more on custom than rule of law. As a new attorney he does not know what Pacific’s past practices have been in refunding fees on cancelled applications.
Mr. Lesh stuck to his guns. He said that the best outcome would be for the P&Z to hold the public hearing and forward a recommendation to the BOA. He said the city has nothing to lose by holding the public hearing and would actually assist citizens who have spent months researching data centers and know what questions to ask. And the city would not have to return the $7,800 application fee.
The bill will be on the BOA meeting agenda for the next meeting.
Very informative, thank you!
Should absolutely have the P&Z meeting with or without Beltline. Invite them. Let the people speak. Lot of pent-up emotion and suspicion. Let the people speak. The authorities need to listen! Give Beltline its money back if the city doesn’t go forward.
I realize the need for these things, (and that is what these are; just things). That particular place is not a good choice. Seems governments, including ours, should be finding the land for them. Then they can take it or leave it.
If I may add on, Dave Shatz, a gentleman I have supported a long time, haws got the revenue share totally wrong. If we indeed are stuck with these centers, then our districts will deserve every penny that comes from them.