Hermantown Council Approves Rezone for Potential Data Center

HERMANTOWN, Minn. — The Hermantown City Council has voted 4-0 to rezone land for a potential data center, officially changing the property from residential to business and light manufacturing.

While the vote marks a major step forward for the proposed project, city leaders say it’s a rezone only and does not approve the data center itself.

The decision came just before midnight Monday, following hours of public comment and protest from residents who say they felt blindsided by the process.

“I think everybody feels pretty back-door’d with the simple fact that this has obviously been in the works, you know, secretly, for a couple years now, and we just heard about it last month,” said attendee Nicole Kearney. “That’s pretty upsetting to many northern Minnesotans, and honestly, I think a lot of people still don’t really even know about it or understand.”

The proposed data center site sits between Solway Road and Sandberg Road and could include up to four buildings — each roughly 300,000 square feet.

FOX 21 will continue following developments on the project.