The Percheron Data Center sited 11 miles southwest of Boardman is moving forward after the Morrow County Board of Commissioners approved to change the project’s zoning from agricultural to industrial on Wednesday, Sept. 6.

BOARDMAN — The Percheron Data Center sited 11 miles southwest of Boardman is moving forward after the Morrow County Board of Commissioners on Wednesday, Sept. 6, approved to change the project’s zoning from agricultural to industrial.

The proposed facilities will cover 190 of the 274 acres to be purchased from Threemile Canyon Farms by San Francisco-based developer Rowan Green Data Center.

The data center will consist of two to five buildings depending on the end user’s needs and include an employee parking lot, plus onsite wastewater management and fire protection systems.

“We were confident from the outset of this process that this particular site met the legal standard for a new sustainably built data center,” said Bobby Hollis, Rowan Digital Infrastructure chief commercial officer. “We are thrilled that the Morrow County Board of Commissioners has agreed with our approach, and our team is grateful for the comprehensive public process that allowed us the chance to engage so many different stakeholders. We are one step closer to making this project a reality.”

The approval comes after a continuation of the commission’s Aug. 16 meeting, which allowed Rowan to respond to new testimony from Oregon’s Department of Land Conservation and Development and a group called 1,000 Friends of Oregon.

The DLCD asserted that the zoning-change request was unwarranted and did not align with Oregon statewide goals — including agricultural land conservation — given other available industrially zoned properties in the area. That testimony challenged Rowan to provide evidence as to why seven other industrial sites identified by the company weren’t suitable.

The testimony came despite the Morrow County Soil and Conservation District’s previous findings, which concluded that the site’s soil was “not farmable.” Property seller Threemile Canyon Farms said the land has not been farmed in the 70 years for which it has records.

The 1,000 Friends group was concerned that the question of water availability hadn’t been adequately addressed, although the Port of Morrow has formally agreed to extend infrastructure to supply water and Rowan plans to build onsite water storage.

In a 33-page packet submitted to the commission, Rowan rebutted these claims and provided a complete alternatives analysis to address DLCD’s concerns and suggested site alternatives.

“We appreciated the opportunity to provide additional information to further support the alternatives analysis and the selection of the proposed site,” Hollis said. “The commissioners unanimously concurred with our additional analysis and approved the first reading of the ordinance.”

Following the 3-0 decision, Commissioner David Sykes said, “When you have something like this, you look at the evidence put forward, and if the applicant meets the findings of fact and criteria to have a zone change … and the planning commission does its due diligence, we then do our part and review it and we agreed with (the planning commission).”

Sykes added that he was excited for the project to proceed.

“As a commissioner, we like to see new jobs for our people,” he said. “What I like about it is we have a three-tier economy in Morrow County. We have agriculture, different kinds. Then we have the renewables, which have moved in — wind, solar — and then we have the industrial such as food processing and including our technology — our Amazons and data centers.

“So, we have a really nice diversified economy right now and if you want to have good vibrant communities, you have to attract young people to either stay here or come back and in order to do that you have to have the jobs for them to be able to buy houses and send their kids to school.”

Sykes recalled a time when the closure of such major industries as a saw mill and a coal-fired power plant were devastating to the county’s communities and economy.

He added that thanks to the renewable energy farms and tech-based industry that have moved into the area, resulting in the infusion of new tax base and a more diversified and stable economy offering higher paying jobs, the county has risen to the third-highest per capita income in Oregon.

Even with enhanced services that an increased tax base provides, Sykes said change was still hard for residents adapting to landscape additions and the shifting economy.

“Change is difficult for people, but change comes to you anyway, just like before when we were losing our businesses, our jobs,” he said. “We didn’t do anything. It was happening to us, so change will happen to you whether you want it to or not. Our whole economy was changing, It was tanking. There is change now, but we’re benefitting.”

For information about the data center, visit percherondatacenter.com.