A Texas-based company wants to build a nearly 500,000-square-foot data center fewer than 200 feet from Liberty High School, and the Hillsboro School District says the city never told them about it.
Digital Realty filed its land use application for the so-called Wagon Data Center just before Hillsboro's 120-day moratorium on new data center projects took effect July 27. Because the application landed before the pause, the project can continue through the permitting process while the city rewrites its rules.
The proposed facility would cover roughly 15.7 acres across parcels at 6240 NE Wagon Drive, 5340 and 5450 NE Croeni Avenue, and 5225 NE Five Oaks Drive, according to preliminary plans KATU obtained through a public records request. The estimated valuation exceeds $5 million. The site sits in Hillsboro's Industrial Park zone.
Liberty High serves approximately 1,500 students, according to the Hillsboro Herald. Lenox Grade School is also nearby, and Rock Creek Elementary is about a mile away.
District blindsided
A Hillsboro School District representative told KATU that Digital Realty reached out to the district's operations officer, who agreed to a virtual meeting scheduled for Friday, Aug. 28. But the city had not contacted the district about the plans.
The district wasn't told.
Only one school board member, Patrick Maguire, has responded to calls for action on data centers near schools, according to the Hillsboro Herald.
Code amendments in motion
The Hillsboro Planning Commission is scheduled to hold a public hearing Wednesday, Aug. 26, to discuss code amendments that could restrict where data centers are built, including setback requirements from schools, parks and natural areas. Those proposed changes would also prohibit data centers as a primary use in some city zones and add new limitations to the Industrial Park and Industrial Sanctuary zones.
Mayor Beach Pace said at the July 27 special meeting that "the idea behind it was to prevent a rush of applications from data centers." The strategy did not stop Digital Realty from filing before the vote.
The code amendment timeline runs through fall: City Council first reading Sept. 15, second reading Oct. 6 and the moratorium's expiration around Nov. 24. Whether those new rules could apply retroactively to the Wagon Data Center remains unclear. KATU reported that neither Digital Realty nor the city responded to questions about how the proposed amendments would affect the project.
County action
As we reported Tuesday, Washington County Commissioner Nafisa Fai announced her intention on Aug. 25 to propose a countywide pause on new data center and AI computing facility development. Her proposal needs support from two other commissioners to advance.
Hillsboro already has 436 acres of data centers with 50 more under construction, and data center operators receive $84 million in local property tax breaks this year.
The district's virtual meeting with Digital Realty is scheduled for Friday, Aug. 28.
