Cannon Falls council approves rezoning, conditional use permit and related land approvals for proposed data center after heated public comment

The Cannon Falls City Council on Oct. 21 approved rezoning and a set of permits and plats tied to the proposed Cannon Falls Technology Park and a data center project, after more than an hour of public comment that included both construction-trade support and residents’ warnings about water, noise and long-term local impacts.

The approvals included Resolution 2835 (rezoning from urban reserve to general industrial), Resolution 2836 (conditional use permit for data centers, substations, overhead transmission lines and building height), Resolution 2837 (final planned unit development), Resolution 2838 (variances from city code), and Resolution 2839 (preliminary plat for Cannon Falls Technology Park). Council members voted to approve the rezoning and the related land-use items; several votes were recorded as passing by margins the council read aloud during the meeting (majority approvals were reported as 4–1 in multiple votes).

The items matter because the votes clear key local regulatory hurdles for a large industrial project that commenters said could reshape local utilities, tax revenue and neighborhood character. Supporters emphasized short-term construction jobs and longer-term tax base growth; opponents raised concerns about water use, noise, electricity costs, and limits on the city’s ability to control future expansion.

Proponents at the Oct. 21 public-input slot included Cannon Falls resident and electrical-construction worker Jason Reed, who described data centers as “really good construction projects to work on” and said “this project would help families of workers from many states” and could employ “up to 1,200 people.” Jason Siebenaler, who said he is a professional…