AURORA — Residents of northeast Aurora filled Monday's City Council meeting to demand mandatory setbacks between homes and the proposed Trident at Windler data center, a project that could bring roughly 1.5 million square feet of facilities across 143 acres.
The council ultimately split on how far to go: members unanimously banned evaporative cooling citywide but deferred a decision on fixed residential setbacks, directing staff to return with options for buffers, noise limits and screening.
The project's exact position in the development pipeline remains unclear — including whether rules now being drafted would apply to it. In August the council advanced a zoning change that would confine future data centers to medium-industrial and business-tech zones, away from mixed-use office and institutional districts that sit near schools and assisted-living facilities.
AuroraToday will track the Windler proposal through planning commission and council votes this fall.
