Salem residents will eventually have a chance to provide input on a possible data center at the Mill Creek Corporate Center, but the company proposing the project said it expects construction to proceed once  approved by the city’s planning and development department.  On Monday, July 13, the city revealed it has been talking with Verrus, a California-based data center company, about a possible 75-acre data center at the intersection of Southeast Turner Road and Southeast Deer Park Drive.  Verrus spokesperson JP Newmann told Salem Reporter in an interview that the company plans to submit its application in the coming weeks or months. He also said the process moving forward is relatively streamlined and straightforward, and public input is typically not part of the process.   “There aren’t public engagement opportunities through this process, but we are going to do that anyways. … Even though it is not part of the typical process, we will hold those,” Newmann said. “When we submit our initial site plan and application here in the next few weeks/months, the public will then have an opportunity to look at that site plan and provide their comments.”  The city was unable to elaborate on the process for the data center moving forward in a timely fashion, but city spokesman Rob Layne said the process does in fact provide for public input. He said that once the company submits all the necessary information and its application is deemed complete, a 14-day public comment period is triggered.  Given the possible site at the Mill Creek Corporate Center is already zoned for projects like data centers, Verrus will not have to request a zone change, meaning the plan will likely never make it before the city’s quasi-judicial planning commission, Salem Planning Administrator Lisa Anderson-Oglivie said during a public planning commission meeting on Tuesday, July 14.   Anderson-Oglivie was answering questions about the data center project at the meeting and said the site plan review and approval process is ultimately done by city staff. She said it is possible that the plan would go before the planning commission for a hearing, but only if there was an appeal to a decision.  During the meeting, planning commission member Michael Slater provided context about the commission’s role in the development process should it come before the body.  “We don’t bring in our own judgment on these matters or our own personal biases, whether it’s for or against data centers or any other business,” Slater said. “What we look at is what are the regulatory requirements for approval, and if they meet those regulatory requirements, we approve them.”  “Our land use laws are really set up that if you meet the criteria, you get to build here. That’s how it’s set up. It’s very different from some other states that are having these data center conversations,” Slater continued.  Salem City Councilor Micki Varney told Salem Reporter her biggest concern was the lack of transparency leading up to the public disclosure of the data center on Monday.  The disclosure was made only after the city was released from a non-disclosure agreement that went into effect in March 2025. She said she plans to hold town halls about the data center in her ward, which covers West Salem, and called for listening sessions across the city.  “The best thing people can do is come to council and contact their city councilors. And I think it’s important that they do,” Varney said. “There was a disappointing lack of transparency in this process thus far. As a city councilor, I only found out about this last Saturday. It is deeply concerning.” “We must have transparency and community input in this process going forward and we, as a council, have a responsibility to prioritize those community voices,” Varney said.  Contact reporter Joe Siess: [email protected].  “My go-to source every morning for accurate, local news.” Make Salem Reporter your trusted source for independent local reporting – every day. Stay informed and connected. Subscribe today. The post Salem data center project likely to proceed  appeared first on Salem Reporter. ...read more read less