The Pinal County Planning and Zoning Commission will hold a public hearing later this month to amend the land use of about 500 acres to accommodate a future data center.  

Billed as an “important investment” in the county’s economic growth, applicant W Holdings of Tempe said in a project narrative that the Energy Generation and Technology Campus will “store, process, manage and distribute vast quantities of data while ensuring secure and reliable access.”

The site is located between White-and-Parker and Smith Roads, straddling Porter Road 4 miles south of city limits. It sits along a southern boundary of the Ak-Chin Indian Community. 

Today, the land exists as agricultural fields. However, the county’s comprehensive plan designates it for moderate, low-density residential use. In order to build the data center, the applicant is requesting to amend the land use to “employment.” 

The item first appeared during a July work session, which originally planned for nearly 2,500 acres between John Wayne Parkway and White-and-Parker Road.

Commissioner Robert Klob said the site would “take away a very large opportunity” from consumer-facing commercial development. Other commissioners expressed concerns about wildlife and the lack of a known end user.

The new proposal does not explain the 2,000-acre downsize since July.

Residents of unincorporated Maricopa like Robin Davis worry a data center would “use valuable resources that belong to the residents and farmers.” 

For most, that means water.

“If we want Maricopa to grow, we need some industry, but water is definitely a concern,” said Sheldon Neumyer, a Hidden Valley Estates resident. 

A project narrative claims the Maricopa data center would consume “minimal” water, which would come from nearby wells and Global Water Resources, the city’s private utility. It also states the data center would “encourage innovative cooling technologies for operational purposes,” without specifying how.

Lance Crutchfield of Hidden Valley is fearful of water cooling, the standard cooling method among Phoenix’s 58 existing data centers. Experts say the method drains water in the communities that need it most.

“Data centers hog all the resources they can get their hands on. Power, water; you name it, they need it, except manpower,” Crutchfield said. “Minimal jobs are available after it’s built and consuming everything … This project should be a resounding ‘no’ for using all the resources with nothing in return.”

Data centers like the one proposed in Maricopa have seen nationwide pushback this year as the AI market demands increasing compute and data-center capacity.

Planning and Zoning commissioners will hold a public hearing on the data center 9 a.m. Oct. 16 at Pinal County Administrative Complex Emergency Operations Center located at 301 E. 11TH Street in Florence.