City authorities took decisions regarding AI data centers without consulting the public.
In the heart of Lancaster, a bustling city in the UK, a controversial data center project has stirred up quite a commotion. The community was taken by surprise when the city decided to activate participation in an aggressively described "AI arms race" in April 2023, with the project on Greenfield Road only being revealed after the fact.
This sudden development has led to concern and hostility within the community, as local journalism and citizens who use their voices are demanding a say in what this community views as progress. A crowded meeting of the Lancaster City Planning Commission and Lancaster City Council expressed their concerns over the arrival of artificial intelligence data centers in the community.
City officials determined in February that the CoreWeave data center project wouldn't require zoning or land development approval to proceed. The February zoning determination characterized data centers as "electronic data processing warehouses," which meant they qualified as "wholesale trade and storage." This determination allowed the data center development to proceed without a zoning hearing, which would require public comment and a formal vote.
However, as of this writing, the developers of the data center project now face several new wrinkles in the process. An informational public hearing is scheduled for Oct. 1, an examination of community benefits agreements is underway, and a potential revision of the zoning code to properly regulate data centers is being discussed.
Retired strategic communications consultant Wendy Schweiger, a resident of Lancaster, has weighed in on the situation, stating that decades of experience have shown that arousing a host community's ill will is a poor and costly way of doing business.
Meanwhile, online discussions have also been focusing on other matters, such as the cost of gutter guards for senior rebates and the estimated cost of a 1-day gutter guards installation.
In a lighter note, a poem quoted from Ogden Nash and published in The New Yorker magazine's April 4, 1959, issue seems to encapsulate the community's feelings:
"I have six little words: Not what I expected."
As the data center project navigates these new challenges, the community will undoubtedly continue to voice their opinions and demand transparency and involvement in decisions that affect their city. The privacy policy applies to newsletters, and those interested can sign up for updates by following the link provided in the email sent recently.
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