- Willow Lakes LLC seeks zoning changes for a data center and commercial development in Fort Pierce.
- The request covers about 200 acres near Interstate 95 and West Midway Road.
- The application was tabled September 17 after the Fort Pierce Planning Board deferred a data center zoning decision.
A proposed Fort Pierce data center did not advance at the September 17 meeting of the Fort Pierce Planning Board. The applicant asked to table its rezoning request after board members declined to decide which zoning category should allow data centers.
Known as Project Neptune, the proposal would replace the property’s planned mixed-use development with land designated for a data center and separate commercial uses. The request involves about 200 acres at the northwest corner of Interstate 95 and West Midway Road.
Citywide Zoning Question Comes First
The board considered how data centers should fit within the city’s zoning rules before taking up the specific property request. That question could affect future applications elsewhere in Fort Pierce, beyond the Willow Lakes site.
Board members approved motions asking planning staff to conduct more research and to discuss the matter at an upcoming Fort Pierce City Commission meeting.
After that action, the applicant requested that its rezoning application be tabled without a set return date. The board accepted the request. The September 17 meeting therefore ended without approval of the proposed zoning changes.
Proposal Splits Industrial and Commercial Uses
The application narrative identifies the property as Willow Lakes LLC land at 10050 West Midway Road, currently approved for the Willow Lakes Planned Development.
The owner seeks Light Industrial zoning for roughly 174 acres and General Commercial zoning for about 26 acres along the road. A proposed deed restriction would limit the industrial portion to data center use.
The commercial section could include shops, a hotel, a gas station, or restaurants. These are potential uses, not confirmed tenants.
The applicant cites two Florida Power & Light transmission corridors crossing the property and a major substation to the south. Its filing also identifies an existing man-made lake as a possible cooling resource.
Cooling, Noise and Power Details Remain Under Study
Devcon Digital, which maintains the project’s public information website, lists several technical questions as unresolved. They include final electricity demand, cooling design, noise at property lines and fire service needs.
The developer says engineering work must establish whether the lake can support the proposed cooling approach. Its website identifies water use, evaporation, groundwater effects and drought performance as subjects still requiring analysis.
The developer also promotes construction and operating jobs, but says it has not published a project-specific employment estimate.
Even if rezoning is later approved, the application narrative calls for a development partner to submit a separate site plan and obtain city approval. A zoning change alone would not complete that process.
