Data center proposal in Pacific officially dead

PACIFIC, Mo. — A developer has withdrawn its zoning-change application for a proposed $16 billion data center near Pacific. The withdrawal effectively ends the project’s review before the city.

BLE Landholdings LLC terminated its pending application effective August 7, Pacific Mayor Debbie Kelley said in a statement. BLE Landholdings LLC is a subsidiary of Atlanta-based Beltline Energy.

The company made a request for an M-1 industrial zoning designation. The request was to be before the Pacific Board of Aldermen and the city’s Planning and Zoning Commission. Kelley said the application and all supporting materials have been withdrawn.

Beltline proposed building a data center campus on roughly 500 acres near Highway O and Phelan Road, south of Pacific. Earlier project plans called for as many as 16 buildings and up to $16 billion in investment.

The withdrawal came days after the Board of Aldermen approved a 12-month pause on accepting new data center proposals. The city said the pause will give officials time to complete a land-use study, gather public input and consider updates to Pacific’s comprehensive plan and zoning rules.

The Beltline application was not subject to that pause. City officials could have continued to consider the proposal before the developer withdrew it.

Residents had voiced concerns about the potential project’s water demand and possible effects on the area’s wildlife and natural resources. The Missouri Department of Conservation had also warned city officials that the project could affect bald eagles, bat species, the eastern hellbender, fish, mussels and plants, according to earlier reports.

The withdrawal ends Beltline’s city zoning request, but it may not end the company’s pursuit of the site. The property is in unincorporated Franklin County, and county officials could still consider a separate application for the project.

Jake Leonard, Executive Editor-In-Chief

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Jake Leonard, a broadcast media and journalism veteran, is the editor-in-chief of Heartland Newsfeed. Leonard is also GM and program director of Heartland Newsfeed Radio Network, wrestling editor and contributing writer for Ambush Sports, a contributing writer for My Sports Vote and Midwest Sports Network, and a former contributor to Bleacher Report and Overtime Heroics. He resides at home in Nokomis, Ill. with his dog Buster.

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