1. United States
2. Colo.
3. Letter

City council needs to block Project Taurus, the Raeden data center proposed for Garden of the Gods Road. The planning commission upheld the approval 6-2, but the process was flawed from the start — the city allowed Raeden to submit multiple versions of the plan after an earlier version had already been approved. As Integrity Matters' legal counsel Kat Gayle pointed out, the city told the developer that the generator count in an approved plan "governs and cannot change without an amendment." Letting that slide sets a dangerous precedent for how development approvals work in this city. The community's concerns are real and serious. Residents have raised documented issues around 24/7 noise, air pollution, water contamination, and strain on city-owned utilities. Appellant Nick Vallintine described neighbors unable to get restorative sleep, with constant ringing in their ears. A $1 million bond from Raeden doesn't make those harms acceptable — it just acknowledges they're likely. Hundreds of residents showed up to a 16-hour hearing to oppose this project. Council should hear that and vote to overturn the commission's decision.