Vantage Data Centers is planning to build the largest data center in Colorado, known as the Trident project, at 48th Avenue and E-470 in Aurora. This facility would sit near residential neighborhoods including Windler, Aurora Highlands, Green Valley Ranch. 

Here's what residents are up against:

The project would draw approximately 500 megawatts of power, roughly 11 times what Denver International Airport uses.

One building alone requires 800,000 gallons of water just to begin operating, during a period of ongoing drought in Aurora.

The plan includes 28 diesel backup generators.

This area already experiences worse air pollution than 98% of the state and higher asthma hospitalization rates than 96%, according to state data.

City staff have confirmed this project can be approved administratively, with no public hearing or city council vote required.

City Council has preliminarily set the buffer distance between data centers and homes/schools at only 350 feet, far below the 500 to 1,000+ foot average other cities use for hyperscale data centers, according to the National League of Cities. Aurora's Mayor has confirmed this distance is measured from the data center site to the edge of a residential development, not to the nearest individual homes, meaning actual homes could end up even closer.

Once a project like Trident receives site-specific development approval, Colorado's vested rights law makes it very difficult for the city to apply new restrictions retroactively. That means the window for the city to act is closing, and it is closing now, before any final approval is granted.

We are asking the City of Aurora to act immediately, before Trident receives any site-specific approval, to:

Rezone the 48th and E-470 site, or require a conditional/special use permit for data centers there, so this project cannot move forward through administrative approval alone.

Increase the required buffer distance between data centers and residential areas to align with national standards.

Measure that buffer from the data center site to the nearest homes, not to a development's outer property line.

Require a public hearing and community input before any hyperscale data center project like Trident is approved.

Hold Vantage to the community meeting state regulators have already recommended, before any permits are issued.

Aurora residents deserve transparency and a real say before a project of this scale and impact is built next to our homes, schools, and families, and before it becomes legally locked in.

Sign this petition to demand stronger protections before it's too late.