CALEDONIA, Wis. — The Village of Caledonia's planning commission approved the rezoning of 244 acres that could be used to build a Microsoft data center, despite hundreds of residents voicing opposition over recent weeks.
The land sits on County Line Road and State Highway 32, southwest of the WE Energies Oak Creek Power Plant, surrounded by farmland and residential properties.
"We're not against the development, we're against it in that space," Valerie Lancelle said.
Lancelle's a longtime Caledonia resident and member of Keep Caledonia Rural, a group with a petition that has garnered nearly 2,000 signatures opposing the rezoning proposal.
"Caledonia residents don't see a gain here; we see a negative impact to our life, our culture, our roots, who we are as a village, and it's of no benefit to us," Lancelle added.
Michael Moore, an appointed member of the plan commission sub-committee that voted to approve the rezoning, defended the decision.
"We have to be progressive or we're gonna die," Moore said.
Progress that several residents have been vocally opposed to, saying they like their quaint, farmland village.
"They [residents] all think that because they live in the neighborhood, they can say what goes on someone else's land," Moore said.
Moore cited potential benefits including tax revenue and construction jobs, plus 50 to 100 permanent positions as technicians and other jobs.
Watch: Microsoft data center proposal continues to divide Caledonia residents
Estimates from the plan commission show that if Microsoft builds all three planned buildings, Caledonia could see anywhere from $2.4 million to $3.2 million in tax revenue, though the timeline for when the village will actually receive that money remains unclear.
"They can sit on that property for the next eight years, and for what? And it leaves all of the people who butt it in a state of total uncertainty. So to me, that benefit is elusory," Fran Martin said.
Martin's an elected village board member and has expressed skepticism about the rushed timeline and lack of information provided to residents. She spoke at Monday night's meeting during public comment.
"This whole thing of trying to compress the little bit of information that we have into a very short time frame and leaving no room for questions, and no room for additional information is just suspect," Martin said. "My concern is that we approve this without adequate information and we regret it afterwards."
The village's board will vote on the final rezoning next.
This story was reported on-air by Jenna Rae and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
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