We need your support to stop Hoffman Estates Village Board from rezoning the 185-acre Plum Farms property at the northwest corner of 72/Higgins and Rt 59/New Sutton Rd from Mixed Residential and Retail to zoning that will allow for data centers, manufacturing, and distribution. Residents in Hoffman Estates, South Barrington, and Barrington Hills cherish the high quality of life, fresh air, and safe environment — not the 24/7 hum of diesel generators and industrial noise. Specifically, this petition request is to halt Hoffman Estates’ approval of a zoning change that would allow for a third data center property within a few miles of two existing data centers. A data center situated across the road from hundreds of residents and very close to two other data centers is not a reasonable location. The noise, diesel emissions, and industrial-scale activity don’t belong near homes, many retail, restaurants, and wonderful outdoor venues on the South and East side of Rt. 72 and Rt. 59.

Local residents, city and state officials, environmental, and public health advocates voiced their concerns at the June 3 Hoffman Estates Plan Commission Meeting regarding the Plum Farm rezoning request. Hoffman Estates Planning Board recently voted at the end of a long evening against the rezoning request, with a vote of 4 to 2.  However, the decision now rests with the Village Board, which is not obligated to adhere to the Planning Commission’s recommendation.  We need to get everyone’s voice to each and every Village Trustee to ensure they understand the voice of the people, and to accept the recommendation of their own Planning Board.

 

Background On This Zoning Request

The attorneys for HE Holdings LLC/Karis Critical, the owners of the Plum Farms property, presented their request to the Hoffman Estates Plan Commission on Wednesday, June 3. They sought to change the zoning of the Plum Farms property to M-2, which is designated for light industrial and distribution purposes, including data centers. HE Holding’s attorney told the residents and Plan Commission that they want the M-2 zoning to market and sell the property to a broader range of potential customers.  

What they did not reveal at the meeting is that according to Baxtel, a data center real estate firm, Karis Critical hopes to build two 200,000-square-foot data center buildings and a substation on the Plum Farms Hoffman Estate site. No one should be fooled by the nature of the request by the HE Holding LLC attorneys at the planning meeting that they just want the property rezoned to better market the property. 

Furthermore, HE Holding LLC/Karis Critical made a similar request for a zoning change to permit the building of a data center development on the old Lucent property off of I-88 rezone in Naperville. The request was rejected by the Naperville City Council in February 2026.  After that rejection, Karis Critical looked to collaborate with Hoffman Estates to achieve their goals. 

 

Experience From Other Municipalities

Currently, the City of Aurora houses five data centers within its boundaries, with another five in the process of being developed. Aurora’s existing data centers have posed significant problems and concerns, prompting the city to develop new, stringent environmental, health, and regulatory protocols. These standard regulations and testing must be strictly adhered to before any new data centers can be considered. The leaders of Aurora have discovered that these data centers are already causing adverse effects on their citizens, including high electricity bills, air quality issues, water consumption problems, and noise/vibration pollution. Regrettably, the citizens of Aurora are bearing the brunt of the consequences resulting from the rapid, unchecked growth. 

Aurora’s new regulations to protect citizens and the environment include:

• Developers must enter into a development agreement with the City to adhere to all regulations and performance standards.
• Developers must submit a baseline pre-development sound study, a noise modeling study, a water consumption and quality modeling report completed by an engineer.
• Developers must submit an energy consumption modeling report.
• Data centers must be designed to meet specific noise standards, vibration standards, energy usage standards and water usage standards.
• Data centers will need to install and operate either on =-site renewable energy generation techniques or on-site resilience storage procedures
• Data centers must comply with strict biometric data privacy safeguards, including prohibition of the sale or profit of biometric data and the issuance of an annual certificate of compliance from the City.
• All new data centers will require public notice and City Council approval, along with public reporting of water use, energy consumption, and noise.

(For more information on these new ordinances and the process surrounding their passage, please visit www.aurora.il.us/DataCenters

Other cities such as Bloomington and Normal in Illinois are pressing pause on data centers as backlash grows.  Even Seattle, home to Microsoft and Amazon, has put a moratorium on data centers, citing their need for impact studies on infrastructure, economy, and public health.  Even the state of Illinois is considering legislation that would require approval of residents within a three mile radius before a Data Center can be approved.

The approval of the Plum Grove Farms site rezoning would allow for 3 data centers within close proximity to each other, without due consideration to issues that are already well known in the industry.  Even if there were a desire to allow this to happen, it would be wise to wait until reasonable regulations can be enacted and standards can be established to address the concerns of our community.

 

Issues Regarding Data Centers That Impact Every Resident:

• Air Pollution
  • Diesel backup generators that power data emit hazardous pollutants such as nitrogen oxides and find particulate matter.
  • These pollutants increase rates of respiratory diseases, cardiovascular conditions, and elevate cancer risks in all nearby communities.
• Water Quality
  • Data centers consume 57% of cooling water from potable sources such as rivers, lakes, wetlands, and reservoirs, increase water scarcity in areas that rely on wells as a source of supply.
• Noise and Vibration
  • Data centers that operate continuously generate constant background noise, vibrations and challenges that include:
    • Continuous noise created by large-scale cooling towers, chillers and row fans.
    • Rumble and exhaust noise caused by emergency diesel generators which run every day.
    • Intense localized vibrations caused by on-site natural gas or renewable power plants.
    • People living near mega complexes have reported vertigo, nausea, dizziness, headaches, hypertension and debilitating noise.
    • These long wavelengths of noise and vibrations travel great distances and easily penetrate glass and wall.
• Electricity Costs
  • The surge in power demand from data centers strains local electrical grids, which directly impacts residential utility bills.
    • Utilities who need to invest in new high-voltage transmission lines, substations, and generation facilities often pass along the cost of this to consumer in their utility bills.
    • Data centers can create a large number of demand spikes, which drastically increases energy prices for everyone during periods of peak demand.
    • The Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis reports that data centers are contributing to increased utility bills in at least 13 states.
    • A Bloomberg article from September 29, 2025 stated that those near significant data center activity report staggering rate increases, surging up as much as 267% 

 

Summary

Let’s identify residential and retail projects for Plum Farms that can benefit our communities and generate tax revenue for Hoffman Estates.

We strongly urge the Hoffman Estates City Council to reject the rezoning request for Plum Farms. Please prevent the construction of a third, very large data center in close proximity to our cherished communities. Each of us is a living testament to the true long-term impact of the two data centers already operational.  Our communities deserve thoughtful development that prioritizes the well-being and safety of its residents.  

Please sign this petition to stand with families in the communities surrounding the Plum Farms property.  Say no to industrial development in residential areas. Let’s protect our health, our homes, and the vision of a beautiful community.  

It would be greatly appreciated if you could reach out to the Hoffman Estates Board of Trustees via email or phone to express your opinions. Your voice is important, and we should not delay taking action for the well-being of our community.

 

Hoffman Estates Board of Trustee

  1900 Hassell Road,

       Hoffman Estates, IL 60169

 

https://www.hoffmanestates.org/government/board_of_trustees.php

 

Mayor Bill McLeod

    (847) 781-2604 

    bill.mcleod@vohe.org 

 

Trustee Karen V. Mills

Chair of Public Health and Safety Committee

    (847) 781-2685 

    karen.mills@vohe.org 

 

Trustee Anna Newell

Chair of Public Works and Utilities Committee

    (847) 781-2684 

    anna.newell@vohe.org

 

Trustee Gary J. Pilafas

Chair of Finance Committee

    (847) 781-2680 

    gary.pilafas@vohe.org 

 

Trustee Gary G. Stanton

Chair of Planning, Building and Zoning Committee  & Deputy Mayor

    847) 781-2683 

    gary.stanton@vohe.org

 

Trustee Karen J. Arnet

Chair of Transportation & Road Improvement Committee

   (847) 781-2682 

   karen.arnet@vohe.org

 

Trustee Patrick Kinnane

Chair of General Administration/Personnel Committee

    (847) 781-2681 

    patrick.kinnane@vohe.org

 

Patty Richter

Village Clerk

   (847) 781-2625 

   patty.richter@vohe.org