By Logan Wells, News Director | Logan@kymnradio.net
On Tuesday, the Northfield City Council voted to approve rezoning several hundred acres of land in the northwest section of Northfield from agricultural use to industrial use. The move opens the area up for development into an industrial park. While the council passed the final rezoning this week, the majority of the debate was held at the prior week’s meeting. Since the 2006 economic review plan and the 2008 Comprehensive Plan, the city’s number one strategic goal has been expanding the tax base.
Industrial land produces the most valuable land for cities to tax. For comparison, in Dakota County, the agricultural land’s assessed tax value is about $60 per acre, whereas industrial land is assessed at $5000 per acre. The difference could be significant in diversifying and growing the city’s tax base since the new industrial park would be over several hundred acres. The vast majority of taxed land in Northfield is residential, with a smaller portion being Commercial and an even smaller portion being industrial. The most comparable space in Northfield currently to a new industrial park would be Post (formerly Malt-O-Meal), Sheldahl, and Cardinal Glass.
Two PowerPoint slides comparing the differences of Agricultural Land and Industrial land. From the 11/6/2024 City Council Meeting Meeting
Much of the debate centered around the size of the industrial park and what type of development would be allowed in it. The discussion was framed by two separate proposals, one from City Staff and the other from the Planning Commission. The Planning Commission proposed a smaller development of the site and also not allowing data centers into the space.
PREVIOUS STORY (11/26/2024) Planning Commission Recommends No Data Center for Northwest Industrial Area
Meanwhile, City Staff cited in their plan to allow a data center because the city’s main priority has been tax base growth and a data center would be another option for that. Here’s City Administrator Ben Martig:
“Economic development. Broadly, jobs are important, but clearly priority number one and the only measurable The value that we have in the all of the strategic plans we’ve adopted since 2017 have been about tax based creation, not jobs. So again, if everything is a priority, nothing’s a priority. The Council multiple councils have said tax basis priority number one over everything else and Economic development.” – Northfield City Administrator Ben Martig at the 11/24/2024 Council Meeting
Community Development Director Jake Riley also cited in the plan that Northfield would implement strict environmental controls on any data center, which he cited as “among the highest standards in Minnesota.”
Two PowerPoint providing a summary of the environmental concerns and standards. From the 11/6/2024 City Council Meeting Meeting
Two members of the public also spoke in support of the plan. President of the Northfield Chamber of Commerce, Jane Bartho, voiced support for allowing a data center to help lower the tax burden on Northfield businesses. Tom Sorem, representing his family who owns much of the rezoned land, also voiced support for allowing the data center.
The Council spent almost an hour asking questions and debating the merit of the different plans. However, the council ultimately agreed to the staff’s plan to allow a data center. Councilor Kathleen Holmes expressed concern with the project if the city started limiting what development could go in the area and that she could support both a data center and the environment at the same time:
“Just because I have a priority for building out the tax base doesn’t mean that I’m against the climate, right? So I think that it’s finding these organizations or opportunity finding opportunities that align with our values. And I think the way that the staff has written this, this ordinance really puts those values on display and puts them out there. Out there front and center that we’ll be looking for people who can meet and exceed these things.” – Councilor Kathleen Holmes at the 11/24/2024 Council Meeting
Several councilors expressed support for the project because of the environmental quality standards put in place on data centers. Going forward in January, the city will work to begin recruiting a developer for the land. Any interested companies would likely pay most or all of the costs for constructing roads, water, and electricity in the space.
We will have a future story about the quality standards for a data center in the space.
