A proposal to build a massive data center in west Lakeland is facing mounting community opposition, with residents urging city leaders to pause all such projects while officials sort out regulations and potential environmental impacts.
The plan, internally dubbed “Project Swan,” calls for a 600,000-square-foot hyperscale data center near Old Tampa Highway and Wilkinson Road, submitted by Tampa Bay developers. The project has drawn pushback from residents and members of the local advocacy group Defund Oligarchy, who have raised concerns about the facility’s strain on water supplies and utilities — particularly amid what they note is Florida’s longest drought since 2001.
“The prospect of running a hyperscale data center in the midst of these concerns doesn’t just bother me, it scares me,” said a group member identified as Atheena at a recent city commission meeting.
City staff have flagged significant hurdles of their own. Lakeland’s Land Development Code does not currently permit data centers, and reviewers have requested additional information and studies on potential noise, traffic, drainage, and water impacts. Community and Economic Development Director Brian Rewis said the developers canceled a key review meeting after receiving the city’s comments — a move he described as not unusual — and that the next step now rests with the developers.
“The applicant now decides whether and when, and under what circumstances they might choose to move forward,” Rewis said, adding that the proposal could return in an entirely different form.
Resident Magdalene Dupree, who has been actively pressing city leaders on the issue, said the situation underscores the need for clearer rules before any data center project proceeds.
“We should have time to figure out what our regulations are and then we tell developers, ‘Look, you want to come here for a data center, these are the rules,’” she said.
Dupree and other community members are circulating a petition calling for a two-year moratorium on new data center proposals in Polk County. Developers involved in Project Swan declined to comment.
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