Residents vent frustration after Aurora data center vote, tell city council "You failed us"

Boos erupted inside the Aurora City Council chambers Monday night after a controversial vote left data center opponents feeling unheard and uncertain about what comes next.

A motion to suspend council rules and reopen discussion on a proposed data center moratorium failed 6-5, falling one vote short of the seven needed to move forward. As the result was announced, residents shouted "shame" from the audience after what many viewed as one of their last opportunities to slow the rapid expansion of data centers across the city.

"I'm scared for the water, I'm scared for the pollution, I'm scared for my air, I'm scared for my quality of life," one teenage resident told the council. "That's why I'm so disappointed in this."

The frustration continued throughout hours of public comment.

"We needed this moratorium, and you all failed us, and you failed yourselves," Aurora resident Gary Zimmerman said.

One speaker accused the council of ignoring residents' concerns, while another delivered one of the night's sharpest rebukes.

"These data centers, as they go up, if they do, they will be a monument to your stupidity," the man said.

The five council members who voted against the motion were Rob Andrews, Francoise Bergan, Curtis Gardner, Stephanie Hancock, and Angela Lawson, which prompted immediate reactions from the crowd. Residents repeatedly argued the city should pause approvals until more protections are in place addressing concerns about water use, noise, energy consumption and proximity to neighborhoods.

Councilwoman Amy Wiles, who first proposed a moratorium this summer, said she understands residents' disappointment but believes there has been confusion about what council actually voted on Monday night. She explained the vote was not on the moratorium itself; rather, council was deciding whether to suspend its rules and bring the proposal back for discussion.

"A lot of people feel very blindsided about the data centers popping up, and so they don't feel heard," Wiles said. "Which I understand, and I understand their disappointment."

Wiles said she shares many of the concerns she's heard from residents over the past several months and believes the city must continue working toward regulations that balance economic development with neighborhood impacts. At the same time, she's uncertain whether another attempt to advance a moratorium would be successful. Any moratorium proposed would need seven votes to pass because the effort previously failed.

"I just don't know that we would ever get the seven votes to pass it," Wiles said. "And I worry that it would continually sort of give the community a little bit of false hope that it might happen, and then it doesn't happen."

Still, Wiles urged residents not to view Monday night's outcome as the end of the discussion.

"I don't want them to be discouraged because this didn't pass," she said. "The work is continuing; it's not stopping." 

While the moratorium effort appears stalled for now, city leaders are still considering a number of potential regulations for future projects. During Monday's study session, council members discussed measures including increased separation requirements between data centers and residential neighborhoods. Those proposals move next to the Planning and Zoning Commission before returning to city council for consideration.