Angry residents may get some data center relief

Town of Port Washington residents who have been pleading for an end to around-the-clock construction at the Vantage Data Centers Lighthouse Campus and raising concerns about traffic in the area told the town Plan Commission last week that they don’t want people working on the project to be able to live in recreational vehicles parked in the town.

They may get some relief soon.

The commission listened on March 11 and turned down a request from Jeff St. Peter to create space for six to 10 RVs or campers to house data center workers at the former Heatwole Foundry property and instead asked Planner Christy DeMaster to develop an ordinance that would better regulate campers.

And Port Mayor Ted Neitzke said Tuesday he will bring a measure to the city’s Plan Commission on Thursday that would end the 24/7 construction in about a month.

“In the next month or so, you will see an end to the 24-hour construction. I heard our neighbors loud and clear,” Neitzke, who said he would finalize the details of his plan before the 6 p.m. March 19 meeting, said.

“Exterior 24-hour construction will be coming to an end, and it’ll be weeks earlier than they (Vantage) anticipated.”

Vantage, he said, had planned on ending the round-the-clock construction by the end of May.

“That’s a really long time to continue to do it,” Neitzke said. “We will be clawing back the 24 hours.”

The city agreed in November to let construction crews work around the clock Mondays through Fridays and from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays at the request of Vantage, which said the hours were needed to keep the project on track after it took longer than anticipated to get required permits from the state.

City officials said at the time that if there were problems with the schedule they would consider reducing those hours, and residents living near the data center site have made it clear there are problems.

“I stand here telling you the 24-hour construction is hellish and I want you to make it stop,” town resident Dean Wiegert told the Common Council last month, noting the back-up alarms on trucks wake him throughout the night.

“Typical day ... I get home from a day at work and spend time outside accompanied by the dull roar of heavy machinery from the work site. The beeping of the backing equipment is continuous and incredibly annoying. As the sun sets, the incredibly bright lights ring my horizon from west to northeast.”

Neitzke said he has been working with Vantage on a new schedule that will help people living around the construction site while keeping the project on track.

One thing he doesn’t want is for the schedule change to extend the project any longer than necessary.

Even as the city works to ease the noise problem, town residents living near the construction site told the Town Plan Commission they don’t want to allow construction workers to live in RVs in the township.

Town Chairman Mike Didier said that several property owners had sought to lease their land for RV parking, which is allowed for 30 days virtually everywhere in the community, although a temporary use permit is required in the Knellsville area of the town.

He also noted that if someone wants to host five or more RVs or campers, a state permit is needed.

“No trailer camps are coming into the Town of Port Washington,” Didier said, noting people can only parkg an RV on one property for 29 days, then would have to move it to another parcel for 29 days.

“Two hundred campers could show up (on parcels throughout the town) tomorrow and the town would have no say in it,” he said.

Residents who packed into the Town Hall told the commission that while they have no problem with property owners allowing family members to park an RV on their land for a few days, they don’t want people to be able to lease their land for temporary housing of data center construction crews.

The potential for significant problems is too great, they said.

“Having someone stay on your property for 30 days or less for a wedding is different from renting your property,” Dave Janus, who lives on Weiler’s Way, said. “Please distinguish that and make it clear.”

Nick Jacoby of Highway KW said, “I don’t want to stare at campers to the north, to the east, to the west.”

The town’s comprehensive plan calls for preserving the community’s rural character, and allowing this type of temporary housing doesn’t contribute to that goal, Chris Miotke of Dixie Court said.

Mike Jajtner, who lives on East Norport Drive, asked why the bulk of the roughly 2,000 acres owned by Vantage — only 675 acres are being used for the data center project — couldn’t be used for RVs.

“Why can’t they put temporary housing there? Why are they coming to the town?” he asked.

City ordinances don’t allow the use, officials said.

Tracy Finch of the City of Port told the commission that workers who need housing have plenty of other options, such as staying in area hotels and rental properties.

“This plan to isolate them in self-contained areas ... this is not acceptable,” she said, adding it will alter the character of the town.

“People here are clearly saying we don’t want this,” Kim Tydrick of Weiler’s Way said. “We’re begging you not to allow it. It’s horrifying. Please start thinking about your constituents.”

Teri Wisinski of Lilac Lane said, “We want to make sure you don’t roll over on this. “

No permission for RV parking should be approved until the town has had a chance to amend its ordinances to regulate the uses, Ann Comer of the City of Port said.

Commission members agreed that some sort of regulations should be established on RV and camper parking, and they asked that an ordinance be drafted for consideration at their April meeting.

Commission member Melissa Alexander said there’s a clear difference between personal use and leasing space and the town needs to make sure that difference is defined.

She also suggested the town look at regulating tiny houses, many of which are on wheels and might otherwise be allowed.

Didier noted that the current town code is “too vague” and needs refinement to protect residents and property owners.

But commission member Ed Potokar questioned how the town will regulate the use of residents’ property.

“We should be talking about who’s going to enforce this,” Potokar said. “It doesn’t make any difference what we do if you don’t have someone who is going to keep track of it.”

While it may sound easy to come up with ways to regulate temporary parking of RVs and campers, DeMaster warned that the issue may be more complex than people realize, so she asked that the town attorney also weigh in on the ordinance.

“You can’t prohibit people from renting their residence as an Airbnb, so that may have implications here,” she noted.