After hearing from hundreds of people opposed to the data center plan, Hamilton Planning Tribunal has rejected a developer’s application to subdivide land on which the company is considering such a facility.
“This is the first time in many years that the public has seen a result like this,” court member Robert Reed said Thursday night after a daylong meeting at City Hall.
It is unclear whether the developer will appeal the decision or proceed with the proposal even without land changes.
Chants of “fk AI” filled the Hamilton City Council chambers ahead of Thursday morning’s raucous planning meeting, with dozens of people filling the public gallery and more than 100 waiting in the hall.
Dozens of local residents spoke for more than eight hours in the council chambers to the Regional Planning Tribunal, which is tasked with deciding whether the approximately 324-hectare site owned by developer Slate Asset Management can be split into two parts.
Slate’s planning application notes one of the possibilities for smaller land uses:Hyperscale and enterprise data centers. ”
The possibility of building a data center has galvanized community opposition. City officials said the 1,688 people who submitted comments on the land division application is likely a record number.
Concerns about noise, pollution and water use
Ahead of the meeting, Nick Tzergas, one of the local residents organizing the anti-data center movement, told CBC Hamilton he wanted the public to have a say.
He said he and others are concerned about noise, pollution and the impact on drinking water.
“People in Hamilton seem to recognize that reality,” he says.
Across North America, the growth of AI has accelerated the development of physical locations to store, process, and run data and software. Canada Already has 5 hyperscale data centers. 96 more are in development.
Some demonstrators in Hamilton held placards protesting not only their opposition to bringing a data center to Hamilton, but also the broader use of artificial intelligence.
People told the committee they were concerned about the impact of AI on the environment, jobs and creativity, and shared concerns that pollution from data centers could have a negative impact on health.
Committee members say residents influenced decisions
During the vote, Reed said the site “meets all regulations” for severance pay, but added: “Given the residents who came out today and expressed their opinions, I would like to see a motion to deny severance pay.”
People applauded as other councilors raised their hands to pass the motion.
CBC Hamilton asked Slate if the province plans to appeal the commission’s decision, but did not receive a response prior to publication.
Gerry Tchisler of MHBC Planning Urban Design & Landscape Architecture represented the company at the meeting. He stressed that separating the 76 hectares on the east side of the site would allow development of the entire 386 Wilcox Street site, but would not hasten construction of the data center.
Data center proposal responds to federal government request
Slate confirmed to CBC Hamilton on Wednesday that it is participating in the Canadian Digital Research Alliance’s proposal for the federal government’s AI Sovereign Computing Infrastructure Program.
The program includes an “open call for Canadian researchers and innovators to build a large-scale, sovereign public AI supercomputer,” according to the government’s website.
Slate said the proposal is not about AI training, but about ensuring Canada has access to data storage capacity and high-performance computing.
Slate said no decisions have been made about building the data center or who will store the data there. But the company says it believes it can operate such a facility in a way that reduces people’s concerns once it is built.
Steelport’s data center will utilize existing infrastructure at the former steel mill site and will avoid impacting the local power grid. It also says water from the bay can be used to cool data centers, saving more resources than other cooling technologies.
Tzelgas said that didn’t alleviate her worries.
“It’s really in their interest to say things like that. Frankly, I don’t believe them,” he said.
Many residents who spoke at Thursday’s committee meeting called for further scrutiny of the data center proposal.
Waterdown resident Chase Alford said he wants the committee to impose conditions on the separation of the land, including disclosure of water and energy usage.
“I’m not asking you to shut down the data center. I’m asking you to look out for the residents of Hamilton,” said Alford, who is registered to run for City Council in District 15.
Lisa Kearns, a city councilor for Burlington, Ont., who was also in attendance, said she grew up near an industrial area in Hamilton and has seen the effects of pollution firsthand.
Kearns, who announced he is running for Burlington’s mayor, asked the commission to deny the application to buy time for elected officials to “unleash new legislative tools to address the problem.” [data centres]”
Data Center Already Approved for Site Use
Slate noted that the data center is one of several uses for the former steel mill site approved under the industrial zoning district. The company’s plan for the larger site is a mixed-use development called Steelport, which it says will bring $10 billion in investment and 30,000 jobs to the region.
Hamilton Ward 3 councilor Nrindar Nnan said he would like to table a motion to support the development of a regional framework for data centres.
Hamilton is one of several communities where residents are protesting the data center project. vancouver and regina. The federal government is pushing to build data centers because of the economic benefits and the ability to store Canadian data domestically.
On Thursday, Prime Minister Mark Carney announced the launch of the government’s ‘AI for All’ strategy. “Prosperity and sovereignty in the age of AI will belong to countries that can build, deploy, and govern AI in their own ways,” Carney said. “AI Responsible to Canadians, AI Serving All Canadians.”
Sion Guha, a professor at the University of Toronto’s School of Information Technology, previously told CBC Hamilton that the country is developing data center regulations as they develop.
He said there was a lack of public consultation on data centers and governance guidance on how water is used.
on tuesday, CBC Hamilton asked Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada about the new federal AI strategy. Prime Minister Mark Carney announced on Thursday — Contains guidance for data center development. The ministry did not respond before publication.
Ahead of Thursday morning’s committee meeting, staff and security refused some people entry into the chamber as many people loudly protested.
Workers told people there were empty seats, but some were reserved for members of the media and city employees.
“I love this city.”
Comments during the meeting occasionally heckled Committee Chair Melvin Switzer for not repeating points made earlier by others, but the meeting ended with many participants thanking the committee and Switzer thanking everyone.
Adeola Egbayemi, an environmental activist who opposes land secession, said “sustainable engagement” will now be important for data center opponents.
“My hope is that the people of Hamilton will sit back and see this as a beginning,” she said with a smile. “I love this city.”
