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Residents urge Hermantown council to reverse rezoning, oppose proposed data center near homes
Summary
Multiple residents told the Hermantown City Council they oppose a recently re-zoned site and a proposed data center, citing noise, generator size, wetlands and stormwater concerns, property-value loss and alleged secrecy. Speakers asked the council to rezone the site back to residential.
Several residents from Hermantown and neighboring Midway Township used the public-comment period to urge the Hermantown City Council to reverse a recent rezoning and block a proposed data center development.
Jeffrey Donahue, who lives about 4.8 miles from the site, said the project is an inappropriate heavy-industrial use in a residential area and argued the site cannot legally or logistically support a large data center. "The data center can't be built on this site. It is a heavy industrial use in a residential community. Can't be done," he said, and warned speculatively about generators and cumulative noise impacts.
Other speakers described potential environmental and neighborhood impacts. Allison Hampton said she chose her home for the wooded property and quiet, and said a data center would threaten dark skies, quiet nights and local wildlife. Alethia Montgomery, who lives less than half a mile from the proposed borders, raised concerns about forest removal, increased impervious surfaces and spring-melt runoff into vernal streams and ponds, and the effect on pollinator habitat and monarch migration. "All that I'm thankful for in my home is at risk if this data center goes in," she said.
Several commenters also raised process and transparency concerns. Derek Strom accused local officials of mismanagement, said he had requested texts and emails related to the project and referenced Minnesota data statutes when urging disclosure; Bob Kumar and others questioned the use of nondisclosure agreements and called for more transparent engagement.
What the council did: this meeting recorded the public comments but contains no recorded reversal of rezoning or formal council response to the specific allegations during the public-comment period. Multiple speakers asked the council to rezone the property back to residential or refuse the project; the transcript does not show council action on rezoning tonight.
Claims and status: residents made technical and legal claims about generator size and decibel levels, commercial-tax revenue projections, stormwater impacts, and alleged secrecy (NDAs). These claims were presented as assertions by members of the public and were not validated or substantively rebutted during the meeting; their status in the record is therefore unresolved.
Next steps: the transcript does not record a council decision on rezoning or permits at this meeting. Residents asked for more outreach, town-hall style discussion and for the council to reconsider the rezoning decision.
