MICKLETON — The East Greenwich Committee during their April 14 meeting moved to have their professionals draw up an ordinance to ban all data centers in the township in the future. There was a large crowd of residents in attendance to express their concerns over a proposed data center applauded the move.
American Tower Corp is in the process of applying for a zoning variance needed for the construction of a 17,000 square foot data center on Mantua Road in Mount Royal. The data center location is adjacent to a housing development and is currently zoned residential.
American’s initial application was filed and set for a Combined Planning/Zoning Board on April 21 but was rescheduled at American Tower Corp’s request for a May 19 date.
However, according to East Greenwich Mayor James Philbin, Jr., the meeting has been tentatively rescheduled for May 5 at 6 p.m. The meeting location has also been changed to the Samuel Mickle School in Mickleton because of the large volume of people expected to attend that meeting. The meeting date is subject to the availability of the applicant’s professionals.
Philbin told the room full of residents in attendance at the township committee meeting that their testimony on the data center issue could not be entered officially into the record for the application. Anyone wishing to officially have their remarks put into the minutes must attend and speak at the planning/zoning board meeting. The committee also could not comment on the data center application.
Ten residents of the neighborhood bordering the proposed data center still chose to stand and talk. Residents spoke about the detrimental effects of living near a data center, including noise pollution, constant lighting, environmental impact on wildlife, power grid use, and the reduction in real estate values. One resident questioned why this wasn’t being constructed in Mickleton where it wouldn’t be an issue.
Residents also complained about not being made aware of the application. Philbin said that the application had been accepted in April, and this was the first township committee meeting afterwards.
Another resident sarcastically thanked “Un-American” Tower Corp for bringing the township together.
If the banning ordinance was approved, it would not change any current application already filed and approved by the zoning board.
By Karen E. Viereck, Editor/Publisher
2 Responses
Is the date of May 5th correct for the rescheduled meeting? East Greenwich website states the meeting is on June 2nd, not May 5th. Just wondering if date was changed again? Thanks in advance for a clarification if you can provide one.
It was rescheduled after the paper went to print. The article stated that it had to be an agreed on date with the data center’s professional’s availability. The date, according to the township clerk that I just spoke with, is June 2 at the Samuel Mickle School.