New data center considered along Wallingford's Muddy River watershed as opposition mounts

Wallingford — A company's proposal to bring a data center to town in an effort to attract major vendors like Google and Meta is drawing opposition from neighbors.The plan came before the Planning and Zoning Board last Wednesday.Charter Development LLC, a Connecticut-based company, proposes a zone change to allow for the development. The current zone is known as the Watershed Interchange District, located to the northwest of Wallingford just behind the Hilton Garden Inn at 1181 Barnes Road.The zone protects the water supply of the Muddy River, which runs directly into the MacKenzie Reservoir, while also accommodating low-intensity tech-based development."A data center is the epitome of a low-intensity use and is at the very center of emerging technological development," said Donald Gershman, a principal with Charter Development. "At this time Connecticut has only a small number of older, relatively smaller data centers and needs to have the physical infrastructure to compete in the information age. Connecticut will benefit by attracting to our state the major players of the information age — Google, Meta, AWS, and Microsoft."Gershman said that only one other center has been built in the state after a law was signed to attract more data centers and technology-focused businesses. He said the new facility that would put Wallingford on the map in that market. Should the project be approved, the town finance and economic development departments estimated up to $1 million in taxable revenue.Two years ago, a plan for a larger multi-building data center was proposed but never built. This center would be one building, and less than 350,000 square feet shared across two stories.As the project is in a preliminary stage, there are no architectural plans. Should the zoning change be approved at the meeting next month, the contractors would return several months later to present the building in full. Because the building would be primarily filled with server racks, there would be only around 15-20 employees needed to maintain it, producing limited traffic, as there would be no need to accommodate large cargo trucks or high volumes of visitors that would change the demographics of the area, the developers say.Once constructed, space inside the building could be rented out, developers say.There was a significant turnout from residents who opposed the change and proposed development. Two major issues were cited: noise concerns from the generators and cooling units on the building, and the environmental impact of the building being near the Muddy River.The environmental issues seemed to take precedence for many. Many said the area was important for wildlife and there wouls be concerns of the development polluting the Muddy River. Opponents said the river is already filled with silt due to other developments upstream that have been negatively impacting the nearby Spring Lake. Some argued that the town should buy the land to protect drinking water supplied by the river.A similar purchase aimed at protecting the river was made with the assistance of the state earlier this year."My concern is twofold. One is that you'll be impacting an area that has great environmental resources for our community — it feeds into Spring Lake which ultimately feeds into MacKenzie Reservoir," said resident Mary Lopresti. "I've seen many eagles nesting in the area that's bordering Route 68, and it also borders a large residential area. To have such a structure in an area where people reside, live, play, have their peace for quality of life concerns me."Neighbor Sonja Wolfe said she was concerned for the wildlife in the area."These wetlands, they're dear to us," said Wolfe. "There's a lot of wildlife that comes through there, a lot of us are bird watchers, and we appreciate the ecosystem and water filtration that comes through there. So not disturbing an ecosystem, the watershed, is something that's possible, and when I hear it it kind of makes me angry because it seems insulting to say it's not going to be disturbed with a building of this size."Some said it was a good use of the land, and that having a data center in Wallingford would give it a leg up on surrounding towns that the developers would move to otherwise, such as Meriden.The developers noted that they were going to take concerns into account during their process of drawing up the structure, should the board approve the zoning change.The board didn't come to a conclusion at the end of the meeting, leaving the decision to be made next month.