In recent weeks, I’ve been getting numerous questions about Grayslake’s T5 data center, which is under construction. Please note: This is not a project that Lake County approved since it was within the incorporated village limits of Grayslake. When completed, the 400-acre-plus complex will be comprised of 20 buildings. It was fully approved by the Grayslake Village Board.
Responding to inquiries from neighbors, the Lake County Board as well as Lake County staff are considering how these facilities might be best regulated in the future. As I write this, there are no specific laws on the state or federal level governing these projects. This is what we are carefully examining .
We are considering amending our Unified Development Ordinance to cover data center development, which governs new construction in unincorporated Lake County. We may see a draft amendment next month or in July at our Planning, Building Zoning and Environment Committee, of which I’m a member. They’ll present impacts, best practices and key elements.
After review and possible approval by the committee, county staff will draft a proposed text amendment and schedule a public hearing before our Zoning Board of Appeals (ZBA).
We’ll also seek a resolution authorizing a 120-day maximum hold/deferral on county data center applications, which would take effect when or if the County Board adopts the ZBA resolution. We already have a deferral clause in our county ordinances that puts a hold on specific new projects that would be impacted by new amendments to our development ordinance.
I know this sounds really bureaucratic, but the bottom line is that we’ll intensively vet new ordinances so that we have adequate time to discuss, review, revise proposals and hear public comments. On complex subjects like these, our building and planning team always does a thorough, thoughtful review.
There’s one other big consideration that Lake County is eyeing. The data center is adjacent to the headwaters of Mill Creek, which runs through the center of Grayslake and flows into Third Lake. The massive excavation of the T5 complex will displace or fill nearly 16 acres of wetland.
Will filling in a wetland create flooding downstream in Grayslake or Third Lake? No one knows for sure, although it may negate a recent wetland preservation site near the confluence with Third Lake. Completed last year, the Mill Creek project helped avoid flooding along Linden Road during the heavy rains a few weeks ago. I was thrilled to help obtain the funding for this green infrastructure site. We’re already seeing the benefits of restoring a natural wetland, which also serves as an in-ground forest preserve nursery for wetland plants. An acre of wetland can absorb some one million gallons of floodwater.
Lake County’s Stormwater Management Commission (SMC) has been tasked by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to review project plans and perform periodic inspections of the T5 site. As an agency responsible for regulating inland wetlands and streams, the Army Corps typically has final say on issuing a permit for wetland filling and mitigation for Waters of the United States. Under federal law, developers must provide adequate wetland mitigation elsewhere to compensate for the loss of wetland capacity. Ideally, the mitigation should be within the same watershed, which in this case is the Mill Creek/Des Plaines River watershed.
The illuminating part of this Army Corps process is that it adds another level of transparency to this project. It requires a public notice and comment period. This is what the Army Corps stated in an April 17 letter to T5 and SMC:
“Opportunity will be given for other agencies and the general public to provide written comments on the project for a period of 30 days. Following the close of the comment period, this office will review the comment letters received, as well as your responses to the letters, conduct a public interest review, and prepare the appropriate environmental documentation. A determination will then be made concerning issuance or denial of your permit. This process is usually completed within 90 to 120 days, if no objections are received. Delays may result if significant issues need to be resolved.”
The Army Corps is also requesting a “soil erosion and sediment control plan” be submitted by T5, which will be reviewed by SMC. Other details such as construction drawings and information as to “the area to be impacted, the acreage of impact and whether the impact is temporary or permanent” are requested.
“I’ve contacted the village enforcement officer to initiate coordination on the development review,” Kurt Woolford, the executive director of SMC, told me when I asked him how this matter will proceed.
In other words, a detailed comprehensive land impact study is needed if wetlands are affected. Although T5 is working with a local engineering consulting firm, I know from experience, this work takes time. In the interim, more details on how this project will impact local flooding will be made publicly available. I will share more information when I receive it.
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