PALM BEACH COUNTY, Fla. — Palm Beach County commissioners voted unanimously Wednesday morning to postpone a vote on a data center in The Acreage.
WPTV's Joel Lopez said it was a packed house filled with residents opposed to the data center, and 56 people signed up to speak at today’s meeting.
The vote to delay until April disappointed and frustrated residents against the project who took time off work but were not allowed to speak on the potential health impacts they fear it could cause.
WATCH: WPTV speaks with project manager Ernie Cox
"We have a whole community here, many, many more watching who want to be here. We are prepared to give you information. You claim you want to collect information because of this delay, yet you prevent us from giving you our perspective, our information. We have so many professionals in all these fields so that you can better educate yourself and then talk to specialists in these studies," said Arden resident Ben Brown during public comment.
He was interrupted by Commissioner Sara Baxter to focus on the postponement.
Baxter threatened to have PBSO deputies remove several residents who were not following the rules of public comment, but ultimately they did not need to take action.
"It’s good that they did not approve it, which was our biggest fear and concern. It’s also somewhat disappointing," said Brown.
As WPTV previously reported, the proposal, titled Project Tango, would convert more than 200 acres into what developers describe as a "modern hyperscale AI facility" spanning 1.8 million square feet, along with 1.9 million square feet of warehouse space.
WATCH: Residents share concerns about data center
However, the proposed data center has drawn concerns from residents who worry about noise and environmental impacts.
The data center would be built next to Brown's home, so he has a direct stake in the outcome.
"I don’t think they need more time to recognize the completely obvious thing that this does not belong next to a community or elementary school," said Brown. "It is right on the doorstep of our community."
The county is requiring a noise and vibration study, but residents want environmental impact studies as well. Brown doesn't believe that 180 days will be enough time for a study to be conducted.
We took these concerns and pushed project manager Ernie Cox for answers.
"At this point, the way the project is, would you feel comfortable living so close to where this is?" asked WPTV's Joel Lopez.
"Based on what I know, yes, I would be. But as I told the residents, we need to prove to them that this engineering will be done, so a step that we were going to do is now is going to be advanced" said Cox.
He said the county is requiring his firm — PBA Holdings — to conduct a noise and vibration study.
"Are you willing to do a water study and an environmental study like they're calling for?" asked Lopez.
"Yeah, what's interesting is we've already done a lot of that," he said.
He said the project has stirred a lot of misinformation on the impacts the AI data center could cause.
"We have no plans at all to do any diesel generators," said Cox. He said they worked closely with Palm Beach County utilities to estimate how much water was needed.
WPTV Investigates
Activists worry data center could drain massive amounts of water, energy
He said they do not plan to cool their data center with potable water from water utilities.
If they need more water for cooling, which Cox said he doesn't believe they'll need, they will work with the county to use reclaimed water.
He said they also don't plan to take cooling water and dispose of it into area canals.
"There are a lot of legitimate concerns. We wanted the time to make sure that we could address the concerns and be good neighbors, and we're going to do that," said Cox.
A big issue in this project is what appears to be dated county codes, and when the application for the project was filed back in 2016, it was presented as a data and information processing center — not an AI data center.
This has created a gray area as county code doesn't say AI is or isn't allowed.
Palm Beach County Commissioner Maria Sachs compared it to requesting a horse stall and creating a race track.
"I didn't realize the difference and the difference is huge. What I would say right now is that this application needs to be resent to us and resent with the idea that this is not a data center, this is an AI high-end data center," said Sachs.
There's also changes taking place at the state and government level when it comes to AI, which they hope will be clarified by the end of the postponement date.
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“At the end of the day, I expect to vote with what my residents want,” Commissioner Baxter told WPTV on Tuesday.
At the meeting, residents pushed back at Baxter after she told WPTV she would vote on what the residents want, but then voted to push back the vote.
"I strongly, strongly believe that my number one job being here is to absolutely represent residents, my residents in my district, and that is number one above anything else and I stand by that firmly," said Baxter.
She apologized to residents for having to take time off work and potentially have to return at a later date.
"I do want the applicant to also hear what is being said today. I absolutely want the sound study done, I absolutely want a source of information that I feel comfortable enough. I have small children, I have a 7-year-old and a 10-year-old. I would absolutely want to make sure that nothing being built would be impactful to them. I do want to make sure that the safety concerns are addressed because as the information I have today, I don't like it, so this postponement is an opportunity to get more information and if they can't prove beyond a doubt that this is absolutely safe for the residents, I wouldn't support it," Baxter said.
She does plan to host a community town hall, where residents can ask project officials questions, but that date is not yet been set.
The vote was postponed until April 23, 2026, when the commission will again take up the proposal.
