A plan to drop a full-scale data center on longtime farmland in South Elgin has arrived on former Kane County Board member Mike Kenyon’s doorstep, and nobody on the property seems thrilled about being in the spotlight.
The concept calls for server buildings and support infrastructure on part of a 31.4-acre property at the northwest corner of Kenyon Road and Illinois Route 25, in a mostly agricultural pocket of the village. The idea is already raising questions about water use, noise and tax revenue in a neighborhood more used to tractors than tech.
South Elgin’s Planning and Zoning Commission holds its regular meetings at the Public Safety Center, 50 S. Water St., according to South Elgin. Those sessions are where concept plans like this usually get their first public airing from staff and commissioners.
What the Developer Is Proposing
As reported by the Kane County Chronicle, a company called Whiterose Partners LLC has approached Kenyon about buying roughly 20 acres of the parcel and seeking annexation of that portion into South Elgin…