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Project Taurus Data Center Proposal
1565 - 1625 High Tech Way, Garden of the Gods Rd
📢 URGENT: COMMUNITY CONCERN MEETING
THURSDAY, MAY 14TH, 5:30-7:30PM
Project Taurus, a data center project on Garden of the Gods Rd, will occur May 14th, 5:30-7:30PM at the Marriott Hotel at 5580 Tech Center Drive, Colorado Springs, 80919. Send an email with your concerns (sample email and email addresses below)
🚨 Stop the Noise Before It Starts — Sign the Moratorium Petition
A data center is being proposed at the same site where residents endured years of nonstop noise and no enforcement. We’re asking the City to pause (moratorium) on all data centers until impacts on noise, water, fire risk, and neighborhoods are fully understood.
👉 Sign the petition — it takes 10 seconds: https://c.org/Dyms2SyQ6f
The Project Taurus Opposition needs your help to be able to educate, do research and file potential legal action.
Donate to the Project Taurus Opposition:
⚠️Concerns
🏭The scale, permanence, and continuous operation of data centers demand a level of scrutiny consistent with other major industrial developments, not fast-track approval based primarily on the developer’s own reporting. This zoning was originally approved when expected operations were 9 to 5, and does not take into account the 24/7 operations of data centers. This raises fundamental land-use compatibility concerns. Other concerns include:
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Regulation and land use have not caught up to data center technology or 24/7 use
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No studies have been done by the City on the impacts of data centers of the health of residents, energy prices, and environment of our neighborhoods
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The City is rushing into this project without adequate research or planning
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The City did not effectively regulate the last data company at this location
💪 States, cities, and towns across the United States are pushing back against data centers based on studies and concerns that are coming to light including:
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🚩Detrimental health impacts including respiratory issues and premature death
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🚩Energy use and significant energy price increases for residential rate payers
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🚩Water consumption
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🚩Noise from continuous operations
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🚩Low frequency and infranoise
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🚩Environmental impacts of these projects on local communities
🚨 More than 30 states, many localities, and Congress are considering legislation to regulate or pause data center construction. Many developers are rushing to get permits approved and construction started before these bills pass so their projects can be “grandfathered in” to exempt them from any new laws. Raeden, for example, has been building infrastructure and purchasing energy for this unapproved project.
🔊 The developers say that their operation will be virtually noiseless and have no environmental or energy concerns. If this was possible, communities across the country would not be dealing with tripled utility prices, noise ranging between 55 to 90 decibels from external cooling fans and systems, heat islands, and industrial droning that can be heard miles away, and significant air quality issues. Local governments are taking the time to truly understand the risks of these projects, including the City of Gibraltar, Michigan, location of another proposed Raeden facility.
⚠️ Comments received from the developers on Project Taurus:
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Downplay environmental concerns
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Do not mention light pollution concerns
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Downplay the use of hazardous materials including glycol in cooling systems
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Do not account for fine particulate matter produced by diesel generators
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Do not fully address noise concerns or differences in elevation between areas studies were done and local neighborhoods
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Do not account for infrasound, vibration, or low hertz noise
The City must approach this project with more caution. At the last project meeting, the venture capital-funded Raeden developers were unprepared for the hundreds of residents who came out to support the community. Concerned neighbors were given slick marketing answers that did not address real concerns, and in the first session were told there is no way to stop the data center project. Clearly, they don’t know the people of Colorado Springs. As a responsible community, we will not join the stampede for “the next new thing” without careful deliberation.
📢 Take Action
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📣Attend the community meeting at 5:30 pm on May 14th at the Marriott Hotel, 5580 Tech Center Drive, Colorado Springs, 80919
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Send comments to Daniel.Sexton@coloradosprings.gov and Austin.Cooper@coloradosprings.gov
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✅ Sign this petition
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📬 Stay informed through Integrity Matters, www.integritymatterscos.org or on Facebook.
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⚖️ Support the legal defense fund to ensure independent review and accountability or donate to Integrity Matters who will be leading that legal defense.
Why This Matters
Colorado Springs has both the authority and the obligation to ensure that development decisions protect the public health, safety, and welfare of its residents. This decision sets a precedent. Once built, the impacts of this project are permanent and irreversible.
📢 COMMUNITY ALERT: Proposed Data Center – “Project Taurus”
Location: 1565–1625 High Tech Way (Garden of the Gods Rd)
City Case: DEPN-26-0039
You can read and/or download updated comments and documents from the City here.
📣 TAKE ACTION NOW
✉️ COPY & PASTE SAMPLE EMAIL TO COS CITY
IMPORTANT Note: it's important to copy us and the media for transparency.
TO: yemi.mobolade@coloradosprings.gov, allcouncil@coloradosprings.gov
CC: integritymatterscos@gmail.com, pam.zubeck@pikespeakbulletin.org, info@pikespeakbulletin.org, brennen.kauffman@gazette.com, alex.edwards@gazette.com, news@krdo.com, news@fox21news.com, news@koaa.com, news@kktv.com, talkshow@aol.com, newsroom@denverpost.com, achalfin@krcc.org, bheaney@cprmail.org, oliviaprentzel@coloradosun.com, tips@thefp.com, luke@conservationco.org,
mkemp@earthjustice.org, daniel.sexton@coloradosprings.gov, austin.cooper@coloradosprings.gov, alasyn.zimmerman@koaa.com, lynda.zamorawilson.senate@coleg.gov, larry.liston.senate@coleg.gov,
tony.exum.senate@coleg.gov, marc.snyder.senate@coleg.gov, rod.pelton.senate@coleg.gov, ava.flanell.house@coleg.gov, scott.bottoms.house@coleg.gov, rebecca.keltie.house@coleg.gov,
regina.english.house@coleg.gov, amy.paschal.house@coleg.gov, jarvis.caldwell.house@coleg.gov, mary.bradfield.house@coleg.gov, ken.degraaf.house@coleg.gov, chris.richardson.house@coleg.gov
Dear Mayor Mobolade and Members of City Council,
We are residents of Colorado Springs writing to request that approval for any data centers
currently in development or proposed be paused until independent, third-party analysis is
completed and publicly reviewed.
A proposed data center project in Colorado Springs – Project Taurus, to be run by Raeden –
would be a high-intensity industrial facility right next to established residential neighborhoods.
The scale, permanence, and continuous operation of data centers require a level of scrutiny
consistent with other major industrial infrastructure, not expedited approval based primarily on
the developer’s own reporting and marketing material. The City of Colorado Springs did not
properly regulate the last data company at this location, and is similarly unprepared for these
types of organizations.
1. Incompatible siting and zoning concerns: Placing an industrial, 24/7 high-load facility
approximately 500 feet from homes raises fundamental land-use compatibility concerns. Zoning
exists to separate industrial-scale operations from residential areas to protect community health,
safety, and quality of life. This zoning was originally approved when the norm was 9 to 5
operations and has not caught up to the 24/7 operations of data centers. Overall, legislation and
policy has not caught up to the technology and nature of data centers.
2. Noise and documented health impacts; Data centers produce continuous mechanical
noise from cooling systems and intermittent generator testing. Data center neighbors have
reported headaches, vertigo, nausea, sleep disturbances, ear pain, and hypertension. People
who live near these data centers can hear the noise day and night as a ringing in the ears.
Complaints about data center noise tend to focus on its 24/7 consistent presence rather than on
its volume. The shrill nature of data center noise together with infrasound, can travel long
distances. These impacts require independent acoustic modeling at residential property lines
and enforceable compliance standards prior to approval. Claims that mitigation measures will
fully eliminate perceptible noise must be independently verified through third-party acoustic
modeling and continuous enforceable monitoring for the duration of operations.
3. Water consumption and regional scarcity: Even closed-loop cooling systems, which can
save 50-70% in freshwater usage, still have measurable water consumption and losses. In a
semi-arid region, full lifecycle water demand—including drought conditions—must be independently evaluated. The potential for glycol from cooling systems to seep into groundwater
and what it means for a local community must also be considered.
4. Electrical grid demand and ratepayer exposure: Large-load facilities place continuous
demand on the electrical grid. In states with a high concentration of data centers like Virginia,
electricity prices have increased by up to 267% over the last five years. The increases are due
to utilities needing to quickly deploy infrastructure and pay extra for market-rate energy. The full
scope of required infrastructure upgrades, cost allocation, and long-term ratepayer exposure
must be publicly disclosed and independently assessed.
5. Heat island and localized environmental effects: Large industrial facilities with extensive
building massing, heat rejection equipment, and continuous energy dissipation can contribute to
localized heat island effects. These heat islands increase surrounding land surface
temperatures 3.6F and up to 16F; the effects can extend up to 6 miles away from facilities.
These impacts can increase ambient temperatures in surrounding areas, compounding heat
stress in adjacent residential neighborhoods and increasing localized energy demand.
6. Air quality and industrial emissions: Diesel generators like the proposed developer uses
for other projects pose severe health risks to nearby communities by emitting high levels of toxic
particles that cause respiratory issues, worsen asthma, and increase long-term cancer risks.
Because the particulates from these generators are so small, they easily penetrate deep into the
lungs and are classified as group-one carcinogens. Small particulates take over a day to fall 10
feet, meaning much of the local community and Garden of the Gods will be exposed to the
output from 30+ generators. These emissions require transparent disclosure, modeling, and
regulatory compliance verification given proximity to residential areas.
7. Lack of independent review and transparency: At present, the analysis supporting Project
Taurus and others like it rely heavily on developer-submitted materials and utility assurances.
Given the scale and permanence of the infrastructure, residents are requesting independent
evaluation of:
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Noise impacts at residential property lines, including infrasound
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Full lifecycle water consumption, including losses and drought scenarios
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Grid capacity, peak load impacts, and ratepayer exposure
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Air quality impacts from backup generation
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Heat island and localized thermal effects
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Land-use compatibility with existing zoning intent
Requested Actions:
We request that the Planning Commission and City of Colorado Springs:
1. Delay any decision on this application until independent, third-party studies are completed
and publicly released, including:
o Property-line noise modeling (continuous + peak generator scenarios)
o Full water consumption analysis, including evaporative loss under drought conditions
o Electrical grid impact assessment, including peak load and infrastructure upgrades
o Air quality impact analysis from backup generator testing and operation
o Cumulative environmental impact assessment (not siloed departmental review)
2. Require independent, city-selected consultants for environmental and infrastructure studies
rather than relying solely on developer-provided analyses.
3. Establish enforceable operational conditions prior to approval, including:
o Property-line noise limits with 24/7 monitoring and enforcement mechanism
o Change requirements to 50 dB during the day and 45 dB at night due to the “shrill”
nature of the sound emitted by fans and coolers.
o Mandatory disclosure and limits on generator testing schedules and emissions
o Binding water use reporting and conservation thresholds
o Defined financial responsibility for all infrastructure upgrades related to the project
o Inclusion of real and prohibitive penalties
4. Confirm zoning compatibility explicitly, including whether industrial-scale, 24/7 data center
operations are appropriate within close proximity to established residential neighborhoods.
5. Require full public disclosure of long-term infrastructure obligations, including who bears risk
for grid expansion, water sourcing, and decommissioning.
Why This Matters
Colorado Springs has both the authority and the obligation to ensure that development
decisions protect the public health, safety, and welfare of its residents. This decision sets a
precedent. Once built, the impacts of this project are permanent and irreversible.
Position Statement
Based on incomplete independent analysis and the proximity to residential neighborhoods, we
oppose approval of this project in its current form and request that no approvals be granted until
the above conditions are satisfied.
Sincerely,
[Your Name]
[Neighborhood or “Concerned Resident”]
