Data center developer proposes building in Pinellas Park

PINELLAS PARK, Fla. — A new data center may be coming to Pinellas Park.

Developer American Tower has submitted a proposal to build a data processing facility on the northwestern edge of Pinellas Park.

The proposal is for a site just east of Belcher Road.

Pinellas Park Community Development Administrator Nick Colonna said the submission is only a few weeks old and has so far included one pre-development meeting.

“They came as, ‘This is an item we’d like to do,'” he said. “‘We see a need in the area, and how do we best move it forward?’”

Colonna said the city is not for or against the proposed data center and is only exploring the option.

He said there would be at least two public meetings before the project could be approved, with additional research before any decision is made.

“It’s less than half an acre in size. It’s easy to get a handle on something like that and the impacts versus something larger, but the impacts are there, and we got to learn it,” Colonna said.

Nearby business owner Tom Skipper, who owns Cordelia Cabinets, said he wants more information about what the project could mean for his business. He said traffic is among his concerns.

“Well, I wasn’t happy about it, because there’s so much unknown about it,” Skipper said.

There is also uncertainty about what role Pinellas County would have in approving the facility.

Forward Pinellas, the county’s land use agency, said data centers are a new type of land use in the countywide planning process.

“Data centers are a new type of land use that have no current definition of their use characteristics or impacts in the countywide plan for Pinellas County,” Whit Blanton with Forward Pinellas said in a statement.

The agency said each local government has its own land development regulations.

Forward Pinellas said it will soon meet with Pinellas Park officials to learn more about the project.

They will also hold a public meeting June 29 to discuss how data centers will be treated now and in the future in Pinellas County.

Skipper said he plans to attend a public meeting once one is scheduled for the project.

“I need to know more about it. Hear what they say and go from there,” Skipper said.

Spectrum News reached out to American Tower, the company proposing the data processing facility, but has not heard back.