Planning commission approves data‑center site plan and Evergy substation with screening conditions

The planning commission approved three related items for a campus‑style data center project but attached conditions requiring additional landscaping and screening to return to planning commission review before any occupancy permits are issued.

Staff presented the site plan and final plat for a two‑building project (Building 1: about 300,000 sq ft; Building 2: about 863,000 sq ft, roughly 20 acres of building) and described required infrastructure work, including sanitary sewer access, private and Evergy substations, and road improvements for 95th Street and Lexington. "We do have substations that we've approved and felt confident that we can manage that with our landscaping buffering and access points," staff said while noting staff has flagged elevations and screening details for further work.

Applicant representative John Michael Hanley said the campus would include two buildings with a combined large footprint and that at full build‑out the project could employ roughly "between about 200–300 employees" in shift schedules. He and Evergy staff presented an acoustic model and said the project meets De Soto's decibel limits: 50 dB at residential property lines, 60 dB at commercial and 75 dB at industrial locations. Evergy's Jessica Keck explained that locating the substation where planned minimizes additional transmission infrastructure and preserves access for 24/7 maintenance: "We have to be able to have 24/7, 365 access no matter what."

Several commissioners objected to the substation's visibility at the city gateway and said typical transmission corridors limit planting types and heights adjacent to the facility. Chair expressed that mechanical and electrical equipment adjacent to a building would ordinarily require 100% screening from a public right of way and said the substation placed at the intersection could become a long‑term visual detriment. Evergy and the applicant committed to additional screening, berming and landscape alternatives and agreed to return with refined plans; staff recommended conditioning approval on Planning Commission sign‑off of the landscaping/screening before occupancy.

The commission voted as follows: site plan for Beal Infrastructure (agenda item 7a) — approved with conditions (roll call: multiple yes votes; two no votes recorded); final plat for Project Pilot Phase 1 (7b) — approved with staff recommendations; Evergy Blackbird Substation site plan (7c) — approved with conditions requiring revised landscaping/screening and planning commission review prior to occupancy. The motions specified that occupancy permits would be withheld until the landscaping/screening conditions were met.

What's next: staff and applicants will prepare a revised landscape and buffering plan addressing commissioners' concerns. If those plans are not satisfactory, the planning commission can withhold occupancy at the final permit stage; the applicant acknowledged time constraints tied to early construction activity but accepted the condition to return with additional screening details.