Williston commission approves preliminary plat and PUD for Northstar data center with noise, title conditions

The Williston City Commission voted March 25 to approve the preliminary plat, rezoning and a planned unit development for the Northstar Center Rearrangement #1, clearing the way for a secure data-center campus near the US-2/84th Street West corridor.

SRF consultant Scott Harmstead told commissioners the proposal would convert a planned residential/commercial area into a data-center site with phasing, dedicated fiber, significant power and emergency-generator needs, and a controlled-access design. Harmstead said noise sources would be transformers, chillers and generators, with expected ranges of roughly 45–60 decibels at surrounding properties and potentially higher levels from US Highway 2.

Commissioners attached several conditions to approval: recordation of quitclaim deeds or equivalent title clearance to the applicant before final plat recording; a waiver of protest for future street improvements along 84th Street West; requirements for pre-construction meetings and defined laydown yard locations; and a mandatory noise-mitigation plan including a pre-operational noise study and a follow-up summer study under full-load conditions. The city will limit noise testing to daytime hours (7:00 a.m.–7:00 p.m.) for the verification studies.

Planning Commissioner Bob Eynon questioned how the PUD defines an "emergency operation" that could allow generators to exceed recommended sound levels during a peak-demand event. Applicant representative Dale Haugen said the site’s emergency operations "would be identical to the hospital and are a must-run situation. It is not to be curtailed during pricing issues or shortages." Haugen added that testing would occur monthly during normal working hours and estimated the generators likely would not run continuously for 24 hours in a year.

City Attorney Jordon Evert and staff said the development agreement will specify public-right-of-way and internal-improvement responsibilities, and that noise mitigation options identified in the peer review must be feasible before the project becomes operational. The commission approved the preliminary plat, the comprehensive-plan amendment to commercial for Lots 1–3, the Transportation Plan amendment, and the PUD and rezoning (Lot 1 to Agricultural; Lots 2 and 3 to C-2) by a 5–0 vote.