The 3-0 vote came after a half dozen or so people spoke in opposition to the project, citing concerns about the potential environmental impact of the facility and what they argued was a lack of notice about Monday’s meeting.
“Project Clydesdale,” as it is called, would be built on 506 acres of unincorporated Tulsa County land north of the Cherokee Industrial Park, according to planning records.
The property is east of U.S. 75 between 76th Street North and 86th Street North.
“We all deserve more than two minutes to speak because we came here after a long weekend while we were celebrating our freedoms,” said Kennedy LaPlante, director of youth outreach for OKGOP. “And I just ask that you would take that into consideration because your constituents are against this.
“The companies may not be, but your constituents, who have the power to vote you in or out, they’re against it. And I hope you don’t take that lightly.”
LaPlante told commissioners that more than 275 people in the last 24 hours had signed an online petition in opposition to the project. The petition cites concerns about the amount of energy data centers use, possible contaminants, noise levels and other potential effects of the project, and asks that a vote on the proposal not come until it can be proven safe.
“So we are imploring you and asking you for a moratorium so we can get more information,” LaPlante said.
Another Sperry resident said she had just learned on social media of Monday’s meeting.
“I’m a mom. I have three children. We live holistic lives,” she said. “I own livestock from dairy cows, beef cows, chickens. … We do not know the long-term effects of what it’ll imply to our children, to our ranch lands, the hay production.”
Attorney Lou Reynolds, representing the developer, Beale Infrastructure, said the facility would meet all environmental standards, including those regulating noise levels, and that the developer had exceeded the requirements for public notice.
“All those water lines and sewer lines will be subject to ODEQ’s (Oklahoma Department of Environmental Quality) approval,” Reynolds said. “And we’ve been working with the city of Tulsa and Rural Water District (3) for over a year now to work this out and figure this out.
“So they’ve been more than adequately vetted, so there’s not a question of capacity or impact or anything in it. … The ODEQ gives final say on this as it comes up.”
Reynolds, who also serves as vice chairman of the Tulsa Metropolitan Utility Authority, which oversees the city’s water supply, noted that the project had been in the news for more than a month and that he and others involved in the project had held a public meeting about it.
Commissioner Kelly Dunkerley initially requested that the vote be postponed until late August to give commissioners and the public more time to examine the project and its implications for the community.
But Reynolds told commissioners that the developer had a hard deadline of next week to execute a major purchase of equipment for the project. Commissioners then agreed to revisit the vote next Monday.
The company behind “Project Clydesdale” has not been made public, but Reynolds acknowledged Monday that it would likely be one of four tech giants — Google, Microsoft, Amazon or Meta.
He also noted that the Tulsa area, including near where Project Clydesdale would be built, already has data centers operating.
The question before county commissioners Monday was whether to rezone approximately 400 acres of the 500-acre property on which the facility would be built from agricultural to light industrial. The Tulsa Metropolitan Area Planning Commission in early June voted 10-0 to recommend approval of the zoning change.
Speakers also rose to support the project Monday.
Kim Wilmes, senior vice president of economic development for the Tulsa Regional Chamber, said the organization backs the project.
“We continue to be supportive of industrial projects, and this one, specifically, as it’ll create up to 200 jobs in the tech sector, paying higher-than-average wages,” Wilmes said. “It will also bring in $3 billion worth of new capital investment into the region.”
Eric Lemley, business manager for Iron Workers Local 584, said the benefit of such a project to his workers and other tradesmen would be significant.
“This project would be vital to us as far as the construction part goes,” Lemley said. “We’ve got people that live here, they work here, they buy their groceries, they buy their gas, they spend money.
“And projects like this really are the backbone of our Local. I mean, probably about a year and a half, maybe just construction-wise, full-time for probably, you know, 50 to 75 members.”
Project Clydesdale marks the second large data center to set its sights on the Tulsa area in the last several years.
Project Anthem, widely believed to be a Meta data center, is planned for construction on 340 acres south and west of the intersection of 11th Street and the Creek Turnpike in far east Tulsa.
Construction of that data center is expected to begin in early 2026 and take approximately four years for substantial completion, according to planning documents submitted to the Planning Commission.
© 2025 Tulsa World, Okla. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
