(The following is a verbatim statement from the Plymouth Mayor’s office)
Many residents have asked questions about the proposed annexation and rezoning, and some have suggested the City is hiding plans for a data center. I want to address that directly.
There is no development proposal before the City. Not for a data center, a factory, a distribution center, or anything else. The property owners have asked to be annexed and rezoned so the land will be ready for quality development in the future. No tenant, construction schedule, investment amount, or site plan has been presented to the City.
That is why many detailed questions cannot be answered yet. The answers are not being hidden. They do not exist, because there is no specific project to evaluate. There is a difference between a lack of transparency and a lack of certainty about the future.
I also share the concern about large data centers. Communities across the country are debating the strain that hyperscale data centers and AI computing campuses can place on power, water, and local infrastructure. Those concerns are legitimate, and I would have serious reservations about any development that would place those kinds of demands on our utilities and resources.
But this annexation and rezoning does not approve a data center or any other project. In fact, a data center is not a permitted use under our zoning ordinance. Anyone who wanted to build one on this property would have to apply for a use variance, which requires a public hearing. Any other development would still have to pass engineering review, meet zoning requirements, and receive the same scrutiny we apply to every major project. And the annexation ordinance and fiscal plan both state that the developer will be responsible for any utility extensions, not the City’s taxpayers and ratepayers. Residents will have the chance to review any proposal, ask questions, and raise concerns.
Why support this now? Because Plymouth has done this before, and it has served us well.
In the 1950s and 1960s, local leaders worked through PIDCO to prepare Plymouth for industrial growth. They did not know which companies would come or what would be built. They knew the community had to be ready before the opportunities arrived. Many Plymouth families have made a good living from the jobs that followed.
In the 1980s and 1990s, the U.S. 30 and Pine Road corridor grew into a home for manufacturers, stores, offices, childcare, and healthcare providers. That did not happen overnight. It happened because people looked past the next year and the next election and planned for what Plymouth could become.
This request is another chance to plan for Plymouth’s next 20 or 30 years. None of us can say exactly what our community will look like then. What we can do is put Plymouth in a position to compete for good jobs and investment when opportunities come, while keeping full authority to say no to any project that is not right for us.
It is reasonable to be skeptical, and residents should keep asking hard questions. That is part of the process. I only ask that this decision be judged for what it is: not a vote on a particular building or company, but a choice about whether Plymouth will be ready for its future.
Future generations will live with the decisions we make today, just as we continue to benefit from the decisions of those who came before us.
