Mackenzie Stafford
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) – The City of Colorado Springs Planning Department says it has issued an administrative decision approving the development application for AI data center Project Taurus.
The development plan modification application for Corporate Ridge No. 1 Lot 4, also known as “Project Taurus,” was agreed upon on June 11, according to the city.
The city says this application further modifies the previous development plan and allows the establishment of a data center use in the existing industrial building and site improvements on the 21.96-acre, business park-zoned site located at 1565 High Tech Way.
The city notes that this administrative decision begins the timeframe for appeal under the City Code. The deadline for residents to submit an appeal request will be 5 p.m. on Monday, June 22, 2026. The city wanted to share a copy of the form for appeals, which contains an excerpt from the appeal section of the City Code.
The Planning Department says that due to the significant public interest in this project, it is preparing a memo to be shared this week providing additional context on the approval decision and review process, including key changes made to the original application in response to comments and City Code requirements. KRDO13 has reached out to the city for more details.
The city shared this statement:
The Planning Department approved the application administratively on June 11, 2026, in accordance with City Code. The decision is now in the appeal period, which runs through 5 p.m. on June 22, 2026.
If no appeal is filed, the decision becomes final. If an appeal is filed, the Planning Commission would review the matter at a public hearing. The Planning Commission’s decision may then be appealed to City Council, which serves as the final local decision-making body in the appeal process.
A list of who is eligible to appeal can be found in this document on page 2 : https://coloradosprings.gov/system/files/2024-02/03_appeal_of_an_administrative_decision_to_city_planning_commission_10-09-2023.pdf
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According to the city record, the project description details that Project Taurus proposes the reuse of the existing building as a data center with ancillary office use and associated site changes to accommodate required electrical, mechanical, and Information Technology equipment. As part of this, the Development Plan Modification proposes the demolition of existing utility and mechanical buildings and the addition of new chiller and generator yards to support the new data center. The new exterior mechanical equipment will be screened with sound attenuating fences, according to the application.
After the approval was announced, KRDO13 began receiving messages from those opposed to the development who raised flags about the announcement of the approval.
“We learned of the City’s administrative approval of DEPN-26-0039 (Project Taurus Data Center) in a mass email from the City at 4:29pm on a Friday which is when the bad news is buried) – not from you. After months of direct engagement, that was disappointing. It’s also very curious that the email says it was approved on June 11th, 2026 yet the people were not notified until a day later,” wrote Dana Duggan with legal group Integrity Matters in an email sent to KRDO13.
We asked the COO of Raedan about this, and he said it was released as scheduled, but that he also can’t speak for the city.
“I think that we’re in a very emotional place. The data centers are representative of emotional flashpoints, and I’m not an apologist for the city. They’ve held us accountable. To be honest with you, I’d like it to be a lot easier. I mean, let’s be honest, you know, and so the idea of me defending the city is one that is, I’m not going to do because I don’t defend anybody. We just speak in facts. And so for somebody that wants to align that an end of day on Friday, which, by the way, was the deadline. So the deadline for their approval or denial, which was published a long time ago, this isn’t new, was Friday. And so the fact that it was notified at that period of time is what it is. And I don’t think there’s any there’s not anything behind it because there’s nothing surreptitious, there’s nothing that is being hidden in this process,” stated Jason Green, Raedan COO.
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Jason Green emphasized the company’s dedication to being a responsible community member throughout the process. He says this is why they’ve had conversations and made changes to their application, even though they technically didn’t have to.
“We want to be a good steward of the community. We want to be good community members. And so that meant that we just had to go through that process,” Green said.
Green detailed that the community engagement involved two distinct phases. One phase focused on the development plan itself, addressing where specific equipment would be placed and how the property would be redeveloped. The other phase involved a separate set of initiatives proposed by the community that he says Raedan agreed to implement as part of their commitment to best practices.
Among the key changes made in response to community input was relocating the project’s generators. Originally designed to be closer to the neighborhood, the generators were moved to the north side of the building, on the Garden of the Gods Road side. This repositioning means the building now provides a greater physical barrier between the generator plant and the community.
To further address resident concerns, a 30-foot sound wall will be constructed at the property line. This wall aims to create a visual separation from the buildings for those on the walking path and support wildlife preservation in the area, Green said.
He says Raedan also readjusted requirements for engineers to conduct sound studies no less than five times, specifically addressing noise concerns from the site’s historical Bitcoin problems.
Beyond physical alterations, Green says Raedan is committing to several operational agreements. He noted that this includes a contract with specific operational processes to manage sound and noise at the site.
The company also agreed to financially fund the architecture and design of a continuous noise monitoring system, to be implemented at the property boundary and within the neighborhood. Green said all collected data will be assimilated into Raedan’s primary software system and reported monthly in a fully transparent and auditable manner. A financial safeguard is also being proposed by Raedan: a $1 million bond. Green said that if Raedan fails to remediate defined issues, the city can call this bond to fund necessary repairs.
This commitment also includes an “evergreen” clause, ensuring these responsibilities transfer to any future owners of the property, Green explained. Raedan additionally agreed to a community-requested third-party audit of post-construction work to verify that the facility is built as planned. Green said they are still writing up the contracts before giving them to the city and neighbors for revisions.
“We’ve got balance for all of this as well as a financial backstop,” Green stated, adding, “It has also been put forth by the community that they would like us to allow for a third-party audit of the Post-construction work. We agree with this.”
Addressing broader environmental considerations, Raedan says it has engaged biologists and ecologists from the Garden of the Gods Park and state-level wildlife experts to assess the potential impact on the integrity of the walking path and local wildlife.
Green acknowledged the sentiment surrounding the project.
“It started with concern. It started with a sense of real fear and apprehension. It started with a tremendous level of distrust, and we worked really hard over a bunch of months for us to be heard collectively. And now we’ve got a project that benefits everyone,” said Green.
If no valid appeals are filed by the June 22, 2026, deadline, Project Taurus is expected to move forward with development. Raedan plans to begin development while simultaneously ratifying all community engagement agreements, which Jason Green stated is imperative.
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