On Wednesday, June 3, the city of Lakeland issued a statement to clarify the status of the “Project Swan” data center proposal:
“The applicant only withdrew from the scheduled June 3 DRT meeting, not from the development review process,” staff wrote in the statement. “This remains an active project under review.”
“At this point, it is still up to the developer on what happens next,” said Larry Little, Lakeland’s communications director.
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Little said that the developer has acknowledged that they received the city’s 13-page response to the proposal and, as a result, canceled the June 3 meeting.
“This is normal,” Little said. “This is just a normal part of the process in a concept review, regardless of the type of facility that is being proposed — whether it’s a gymnasium, assisted living facility, or a new restaurant.”
“I think this one has gotten a lot of attention, because it is, of course, a data center, and people are concerned about data centers, not only here in Lakeland, but across the United States,” he said.
“We understand the sensitivity around it,” Little said. He said the majority of city employees are residents in Lakeland and “totally understand people having concerns about what is placed into their neighborhoods and the environmental impacts that it will have on the community.”
He said, “that’s why we want to be as transparent as possible, but also … educate people on what the processes are in this because I think that’s that’s the misunderstanding here.”
A technical error
On Tuesday evening, June 2, the status of the project in the city’s permit tracking system (IMS) was listed as “Withdrawn.” Based on that status, LkldNow reported that the project had been withdrawn.
On Tuesday evening, June 2, the status of the project in the city’s permit tracking system (IMS) was listed as “Withdrawn.” Based on that status, LkldNow reported that the project had been withdrawn.
The statement emphasized that, “No final decisions have been made regarding the project. What happens next is dependent on the applicant’s decision. There is no required deadline for the applicant to respond to the DRT’s comments.”
“We just ask that people are patient while we get more information,” Little said.
“As soon as that information is available, we want to be transparent and put that information out for the community to evaluate … that was one of the reasons why the comments document was published and shared yesterday, so people could understand this is really the process we go through all the time, regardless of the type of development proposal.”
Anna Toms is a reporter for LkldNow, a nonprofit newsroom providing independent local news for Lakeland. Read at LkldNow.com.
