Palm Beach County zoning staff approved a plan on Oct. 7 that nearly triples the data center space previously allowed on part of the Project Tango property, according to documents WPTV reporter Michael Hoffman obtained. The approval increases the space from 206,000 square feet to just under 700,000 square feet.
The decision came less than three months after county commissioners voted 5-1 on July 15 to reject a much larger expansion that would have pushed the data center footprint past 1 million square feet. Commissioners made that decision after roughly 12 hours of review and significant opposition from nearby residents. The county also adopted a moratorium on new data center applications while it writes new rules.
The October plan was filed by PBA Holdings, one of two companies that own parts of the property, before the July vote. Staff approved it without a commission vote or a public hearing. Zoning Director Wendy Hernandez told Hoffman the application was submitted before the moratorium took effect, so staff could keep reviewing it.
The approved layout includes two 288,000-square-foot data center buildings and one 122,000-square-foot data center building, along with 1.2 million square feet of warehouse space. The plan also adds conditions that the 2016 approval lacked. Data centers cannot be built within 850 feet of the property line near the Arden community, noise is capped at 50 to 60 decibels depending on the time of day, and the county water utility would supply no more than 100,000 gallons per day.
A second owner, WPB Logistics, has a separate application under review that could add about 1.2 million square feet of data center space on its roughly 60-acre portion. Residents have questioned how the October plan advanced without their input. Project Tango manager Ernie Cox’s team said it would respond, but no response had been received at publication.
