On July 28, 2026, the Acreage Landowners Association sent Palm Beach County commissioners, Zoning Director Wendy Hernandez, and other County staff a formal written request asking to be notified about future Project Tango activity and other hyperscale AI data-center proposals affecting western Palm Beach County.
Our letter did not request notification only for public hearings. It expressly asked to be informed about:
Administrative applications and reviews
Development Review Officer applications
Modifications and waivers
Zoning and land-development actions
Comprehensive Plan and ULDC changes
Public meetings and policy discussions
Future Project Tango applications
Most importantly, our letter specifically identified DRO-2026-00966—the very application County staff administratively approved on October 7, 2026.
The ALA received no notice before that decision.
According to Palm Beach County’s Project Tango webpage, the Development Review Officer approved DRO-2026-00966 on October 7, 2026, subject to conditions.
The approval did not revive the previously proposed 3.5-million-plus-square-foot expansion rejected by the Board of County Commissioners on July 15. Instead, County staff approved changes within Project Tango’s existing 2.02-million-square-foot development entitlement.
The newly approved plan includes:
Approximately 698,000 square feet of data-center buildings
Approximately 54,000 square feet of associated office space
A 1.2-million-square-foot warehouse
A 68,000-square-foot minor utility building
Mechanical areas for battery-storage equipment
Changes to the internal property configuration, site layout and eastern buffer
The earlier approved site plan showed approximately 200,000 square feet of data-center buildings. The October 7 administrative decision therefore more than tripled the data-center building area to approximately 698,000 square feet.
The County describes the approved data-center allocation, including accessory office space, as approximately 752,000 square feet.
That is a material development change—not a minor administrative correction.
The ALA’s July 28 letter specifically named DRO-2026-00966 and asked to be included in notifications concerning administrative Project Tango reviews.
Nevertheless, the application was approved without notice to the ALA.
We learned about the decision only after the fact through independent reporting—not through the County department and officials who received our request.
We have now contacted the same commissioners and County staff again and asked why the ALA was not informed. We also requested information about the process that resulted in the October 7 approval.
We recognize that this was an administrative decision rather than a traditional public hearing. That distinction, however, reinforces the importance of our notification request.
When an application does not require a public hearing, interested residents cannot depend on a published hearing agenda to learn what is happening. A reliable notification process is essential if the public is expected to follow and participate in administrative development reviews.
On July 15, the Board of County Commissioners rejected the applicant’s larger Project Tango expansion.
Following that vote, Vice Mayor Marci Woodward emphasized that commissioners had given clear direction concerning the compatibility of the proposed data-center use with the County’s Comprehensive Plan. She asked whether the Board’s concerns would be considered during staff’s administrative review of the remaining applications.
Zoning Director Wendy Hernandez answered yes.
The public therefore deserves to understand how those concerns were considered before DRO-2026-00966 was approved.
Palm Beach County now lists another administrative application, ABN/DRO-2026-01058, as pending.
That application proposes abandoning the approved 1.2-million-square-foot warehouse and replacing it with four additional data-center buildings totaling approximately 1.177 million square feet. The plans also identify a water-treatment facility, security structures, outdoor utility areas and four generator yards.
The County states that the separately approved 752,000 square feet of data-center and accessory-office space would remain in place.
If the pending request is approved as submitted, Project Tango could potentially contain approximately 1.929 million square feet of data-center and accessory-office space, while remaining within the existing overall development limit.
The County currently lists no pending public hearing for this application.
The ALA has asked Palm Beach County to explain:
Whether our July 28 letter was received and entered into the County’s records.
Whether our notification request was connected to the Project Tango applications specifically identified in the letter.
Whether the request was forwarded to the Zoning Director, project manager, Development Review Officer or other responsible staff.
Why the ALA was not notified before the October 7 approval.
Whether the County maintains an interested-party or courtesy-notification list for administrative applications.
Whether the ALA will now receive notice of all action involving pending application ABN/DRO-2026-01058.
How the Board’s July 15 concerns were considered during the administrative review.
What opportunity residents will have to review and comment on the pending warehouse-to-data-center conversion.
We have also requested the final approved plans, conditions, result letter, staff comments, review records and relevant correspondence concerning DRO-2026-00966.
The ALA did exactly what residents and civic organizations are regularly told to do: we participated, submitted our concerns in writing, identified the relevant applications and asked to remain informed.
We were not asking for special treatment or decision-making authority. We were asking for notice.
A decision that more than triples the data-center building area from approximately 200,000 to 698,000 square feet should not pass quietly through an administrative process after a community organization specifically requested notification of that exact application.
We will share the County’s explanation when it is received. We will also continue monitoring ABN/DRO-2026-01058 and other proposals that could affect The Acreage, Loxahatchee and western Palm Beach County.
Residents deserve to know when significant development changes are being considered—especially when those decisions do not require another public hearing.
