MONROVIA — A sprawling piece of farmland near Monrovia is quickly transforming for the artificial intelligence industry. Neighbors across the street from the site are trying to handle the constant construction.
Google plans to build a data center on more than 500 acres of land between Keller Hill Road and State Road 42. Monroe County commissioners approved rezoning more space for the project in October and the initial construction work started in November.
"It's easy sometimes to not think about the things in the background until it shows up right across the street from your house," said Sean Walker, who lives across Antioch Road from the data center site. "I guess it's just like anything else, you learn to live with it."
Walker has worried about the data center's effect on his home life ever since he learned about the project several months ago. He approached Morgan County commissioners and stated his concerns shortly before their approval vote on October 6.
"Nobody here wants to live across the street from an industrial project like this, and yet you are asking me and my neighbors to carry that burden," Walker told commissioners during that meeting.
Now, Walker's view includes metal fence posts, a tall berm of dirt, and a street sweeper maintaining the roads around the data center site.
"The construction guy told me it's going to take four years," Walker said. "There's twelve or so trucks out there constantly moving around so you get that noise of the dirt. That's not to mention the street sweeper that goes up and down this road all day long."
Others in Monrovia such as coffee shop owner Carrie Syczylo continue to oppose Google's efforts even while construction is underway.
"We don't want Google to be our change," Syczylo said. "We all have a common fight, which is the fight of the data centers robbing rural life."
