Residents flood Sunbury Planning meeting urging scrutiny of proposed business-and-technology park and data center risks

Hundreds of residents told the Sunbury Planning & Zoning Commission on March 23 that the city should not move forward with annexation and rezoning that they say opens the door to industrial-scale data centers.

Speakers at the public-comment period repeatedly described health and environmental risks they associate with large data centers, including diesel backup generators, permanent low-frequency noise and vibration, heavy water consumption and potential contamination. "We're just not opposing the data center. We are opposing the whole industrial part," said Amanda during early public comments, framing a common resident view that the zoning change will allow industrialization of farmland and neighborhoods.

Several technical claims were raised from the audience. Jeremiah Meeks, who identified himself as a resident a mile-plus from the proposed site, urged the commission to consider low-frequency (C-weighted) sound metrics in addition to A-weighted decibel meters, saying that "low frequency drone waves pass right over barriers and through your home's insulation into your bedroom." Other speakers asked the city to require a full environmental impact statement rather than a smaller mitigated-declaration study; one resident explicitly requested an EIS to address water use, air emissions and noise.

City staff acknowledged the scale of public concern and outlined next steps. Assistant city staff Mr. Edennessy told the commission staff has clustered questions into categories—quality-of-life and property-value impacts; environmental and health questions (air, noise, water); infrastructure and utilities (water and electricity supply); community character and growth; and economic benefit versus risk. He said the city will pursue independent technical reviews (zoning/noise best-practice review, a third-party water-quality expert), expand the publicly available frequently asked questions (FAQ) and explore larger venues and streaming to improve public access.

Sunbury officials also noted state activity that could affect local review. Representative Lear said House Bill 646 would create a state study commission to gather evidence and issue recommendations by the end of the year; she urged residents to submit evidence and sign up to participate. Staff said House Bill 15, which addresses on-site generation and related electric-cost questions, is also being tracked.

No formal zoning decision on the business-and-technology park was made at the meeting. Staff repeatedly reminded the public that portions of the land in question already hold limited-industrial zoning entitlements, but said multiple "rip cords"—including site-plan, water-supply and technical review—remain before any large project could be built. "We're taking it seriously and we are trying to do the research we can so that we can help inform you before the next decision point comes for you and council," staff said.

What happens next: staff committed to independent technical analyses (noise/zoning review and a water-quality study) and to updating FAQs and public materials. The commission and council have not set a final vote date for any rezoning or annexation; residents were urged to submit evidence to the incoming state study commission and to monitor upcoming city hearings.