Caledonia planning commission recommends land‑use change to allow Microsoft data‑center proposal after heated hearing

The Village of Caledonia Plan Commission voted on a recommendation to the village board to amend the 2035 comprehensive land‑use map and rezone multiple parcels near the We Energies power plant to allow a data‑center campus proposed by Microsoft, after a presentation by the company and more than three hours of public comment.

The recommendation, moved by the presiding officer and seconded by a commissioner, forwards draft resolution PC‑2025‑03 and the rezoning request with conditions for review by the village board. Staff presented a set of draft conditions (Exhibit B) that would bind the applicant to a sequence of milestones, including written acceptance of conditions, deadlines for property acquisition, mandatory performance standards (buffer yards, maximum height, landscaping, fencing and screening, noise and exterior lighting standards) and execution of a development agreement addressing sewer, water, stormwater and roadway access prior to major site work.

Microsoft representatives told the commission the proposal — described in the presentation as an early‑stage campus concept called Project Nova — is at a preliminary planning phase. Microsoft’s community affairs manager said the company is “still very early in the data center planning and development process” and that many approvals and engineering studies would precede any construction. A Microsoft land‑development manager said the project would be multidisciplinary and multi‑year, and that the company intends to continue public engagement as details are developed.

Supporters at the hearing emphasized potential economic and workforce benefits. A county economic official told the commission that the proposal could add significant tax base and that the developer has committed to fund needed water and sewer infrastructure for the site rather than relying on village funding. Several local business, labor and economic‑development speakers said the development would create a construction hiring surge and long‑term operations jobs and training partnerships.

Opponents raised a broad set of concerns. Many residents said the parcels proposed for light‑industrial designation are part of Caledonia’s rural character and expressed alarm about potential noise, truck traffic, and long construction periods. Multiple speakers asked for independent health and environmental studies because portions of the site lie adjacent to a former coal‑ash landfill; residents also challenged the lack of specific engineering data, including projected water‑use figures, the preferred cooling technology, and detailed traffic and stormwater plans. One resident asked the commission to “require independent testing first, not after the rezone.”

Staff walked commissioners through the draft conditions and the statutory framework, noting the commission’s action would be only the first in a sequence of formal reviews that include a development agreement, infrastructure annexations and utility‑district boundary changes, traffic analyses, stormwater approvals and building‑site and operational plans. Staff also described reversion language in the draft conditions: if milestones are not met by stipulated deadlines, the rezoning for particular parcels would revert to their prior agricultural designation.

After asking for clarifications and debating whether to delay for additional technical studies, commissioners voted to recommend forwarding the land‑use amendment and rezoning to the village board with the draft Exhibit B conditions intact. The commission’s recommendation makes the village board the next decision point; the board will receive the staff report, the applicant’s materials and the public record before any final approval.

The planning commission simultaneously handled several other routine items at the meeting: it recommended a two‑year extension for a previously approved conditional use for a 73‑unit apartment project and recommended forwarding a four‑building self‑storage site plan to the village board; an earlier minor rezoning cleanup request was also recommended for approval. Those votes proceeded by voice vote earlier in the hearing.

What happens next: the planning commission’s action formally forwards the land‑use amendment, rezoning application and staff’s draft resolution and conditions to the village board for consideration. The village board will receive the recommendation, consider staff’s drafting of the resolution and may accept, modify, or reject the commission’s recommendation and the proposed conditions.