A developer has contacted several owners at the Humboldt-Rio Dell Business Park about building a data center there, putting a new use on the table for a small industrial strip north of Rio Dell. City officials still do not know who is behind the proposal or how large the facility would be, but the idea is already forcing the town to weigh what it could bring against what it could use up.
The business park sits next to the Eel River and is split into around half a dozen parcels, with one of the owners identified as Jesse Jeffries, a SoHum cannabis figure who refused to talk with the Outpost. That matters now because the city is being asked to think about property at a site that already looks lightly developed, even as residents search for clues about a project that could alter how the land is used.
Kyle Knopp said he was surprised a developer was looking at Humboldt at all, and he noted that data centers can vary widely in size. He said even the server room at Rio Dell City Hall could be counted as a data center, a reminder that the term covers far more than the vast complexes people usually imagine. But the city has no information yet on the proposed facility’s power draw, water demand or space needs, and that gap is what is holding the conversation back.
That gap matters because the town is already thinking about the natural resources a data center might consume. Knopp said the city might be able to use recycled wastewater to cool a facility, adding that the water now gets drained into an alfalfa field, and he said bringing in a new customer could help cover expenses, generate sales tax revenue and add property taxes. He also said a few jobs would be welcome.
Still, the same conversation keeps circling back to limits. Knopp said the city is reluctant to make any decision until it knows more about the facility’s footprint, warning that the road to the park may not handle much traffic, the park floods sometimes and the utility hookups may not be sufficient. Several council members said last week they were worried the project could consume too much water and other resources, and they pointed to the city’s past struggle to secure enough water for all of its customers.
Mayor Debra Garnes put that concern plainly at the meeting. “While we do need revenue — no one can argue that — the reality, from everything I’ve seen, the problem with the data center is the same problem we have in Rio Dell,” she said. The city council will ultimately have to decide whether any application fits the current zoning codes or whether data centers need a new classification, but for now the unanswered question is not whether interest exists. It is who the developer is and whether Rio Dell can support what is being proposed.
