One of the next big data centers in Hillsboro, Oregon, is likely to be the Digital Realty Trust, LP project on NE Wagon Way. The Dallas (TX) based company that already has large Data Centers in Hillsboro has applied for a massive two-story data center facility directly across from Hillsboro’s largest and newest High School, Liberty High School. And “directly across” means within 200 feet, according to site plans submitted to the City of Hillsboro last week. According to data center mapping and recent Brown University research tracking school proximity, this project represents a precedent-setting threat in Oregon—placing a massive industrial compute facility directly across the street from a high school campus.
The Hillsboro Herald tracks all data center applications, land transactions, and potential deals here in our community. We have known about this project for a while, but only this Monday were we able to finally access some early documents. The project, titled Wagon Data Center by Digital Realty (DR26-0030 Wagon Data Center), has just submitted basic sketches and a site plan. It is clear to anyone that this will alter the quality of the educational setting for our students. The City of Hillsboro has assigned
At this time, there does not appear to be much that the people of Hillsboro, or the City for that matter, can do to stop this. The land-use codes have very few teeth and little in the way of siting requirements. The project is in the preliminary stages, and as it moves through a Type 2 process, more information will be submitted, and eventually a Public Notice will be sent to property owners within 200 feet. The public at large can then submit evidence to the file for consideration, and if such evidence has merit under the code, it can be considered and used for a potential appeal. Anyone who wants additional information can contact Hillsboro Planning or Community Development at (503) 681-6153, but at this time, we are sharing everything available with you all.
This is not a Hillsboro-only problem, but rather a Statewide issue. Data Centers and now AI Computing facilities are running rampant all over the State. Hillsboro does have the first data center Moratorium in place right now, but it will only last 120 days. Issues that will not doubt arise from this very application will be discussed and hopefully lead to new zoning ordinances that can be passed by the end of the Moratorium. How did we get here? Lazy zoning ordinances, reactive rather than proactive leadership, and a total lack of oversight by leadership over the past decade have allowed this to happen and brought us to this place.
Having said that, there was an opportunity to act sooner when Councilor Sinclair called for emergency action in April of this year. However, Mayor Pace and a majority of the Council opted to wait 45 days. That delay pushed the moratorium vote back, opening a window during which Digital Realty and several other projects could submit initial land-use filings to establish vested rights before the pause.
What do we know about Digital Realty? They are a massive player in the Data Center business with locations across the United States. The two existing in Hillsboro are now known as Portland PDX 10 and 12 and total about 600,000 SF of space— you can find out a lot more about the company on its website right here: https://www.digitalrealty.com/about. With over 300 locations worldwide, this is a big-time player.
Digital Realty’s existing Hillsboro footprint isn’t without precedent for emergency incidents. Last May, an internal power cabinet fire at their local complex required a five-hour response from firefighters and reportedly knocked major platforms offline. You can read some of the stories below. Fire safety, of course, will be a very important issue as this particular permit moves ahead.
https://www.oregonlive.com/silicon-forest/2025/05/fire-breaks-out-at-hillsboro-data-center.html
Why should the Hillsboro Community and the Hillsboro School District be concerned about a Data Center, or any big industrial user, being placed so close to a school? The answers are part of a widely growing National debate on the risks and outcomes of such a placement. They include issues like:
While the industry frames these facilities as the silent engines of the digital age, their physical presence is anything but subtle. For the apx. 1,500 students, faculty, and athletes who occupy the adjacent campus; this project introduces a permanent industrial neighbor that creates tangible risks to the learning environment and public health.
The “Invisible” Pollution: Noise and Frequency
Data centers never sleep. To prevent servers from overheating, the facility will use massive industrial HVAC and cooling systems 24 hours a day, producing a constant, low-frequency hum. Standard municipal noise ordinances rely on “A-weighted” decibel readings, which effectively ignore these deep, tonal frequencies. However, research published in the Journal of Applied Sciences indicates that prolonged exposure to low-frequency noise is linked to cognitive fatigue, sleep disruption, and decreased focus—the very last things students need during high-stakes testing or complex classroom instruction.
Diesel Exhaust and Air Quality
Perhaps the most immediate concern is the facility’s emergency backup power system. Housing between 20 and 40 massive diesel generators (based on the early site plan), the site effectively functions as a stationary fleet of idling heavy-duty trucks. Even when operated only for routine monthly maintenance, these engines often release nitrogen oxides (NOx) and fine particulate matter (PM2.5). Because children and adolescents are still developing, they are physiologically more vulnerable to these respiratory irritants. For the school’s outdoor track and sports fields—located mere yards from the property line—this raises critical questions about whether students should engage in strenuous physical activity downwind of an industrial exhaust zone.
The Heat Island Effect
AI-driven computing generates immense waste heat. Recent environmental studies suggest that hyperscale data centers can create localized “heat islands” extending up to six miles, capable of raising ambient temperatures by as much as 9°F. On a hot Oregon afternoon, this thermal output could render outdoor athletic facilities uncomfortable or even hazardous, compounding the physical strain on student-athletes already contending with the facility’s mechanical noise and emissions. The OSAA has specific standards that use heat and humidity to calculate when sports activities can occur, and this could be an issue for that crucial calculation.
A Growing Academic Correlation
The concerns are not merely theoretical. A growing body of research, including recent findings from the Brown University Sustainable Education Research Initiative, has identified a statistically significant association between proximity to data centers and lower math scores in nearby public schools. While the specific biological and psychological mechanisms are still being peer-reviewed, the data suggest that when we place industrial infrastructure in the immediate path of education, it is the students who pay the price in diminished learning outcomes.
As Hillsboro continues to approve rapid industrial expansion, we must ask: Are we prepared to treat our schools as secondary to server capacity? When a building of this magnitude is placed within 200 feet of a classroom, it ceases to be a zoning technicality and becomes a direct challenge to the safety and future of our community’s youth.
As noted by Samantha Kane, research associate at Brown:
“You can rule out all other factors. It’s actually the proximity to the data center and the potential pollution coming from the data center that is having the impact on achievement and not other things about the region.” https://www.laschoolreport.com/nearly-1900-u-s-public-schools-within-a-mile-of-a-data-center/
Nearly 1,900 U.S. Public Schools Within a Mile of a Data Center
That story, oddly enough, just came out this AM, just as we went to press on this story. This story should be read by anyone interested in this matter, and the Brown Report needs to be accessed by our City Council and staff, who are, as we speak, analyzing how to alter our Hillsboro zoning and planning regulations to limit Data Centers and AI Compute facilities near residences, schools, parks, and the like. Because Oregon’s land-use state laws protect applications based on the standards in effect at the time of submission (the ‘goal post rule’), any new zoning protections enacted during the 120-day moratorium likely will not apply retroactively to lock out the Wagon Way application.
Even more concerningly, we find that Liberty has an amazing and unique program that serves Hillsboro’s youngest residents. The Falcon’s Nest Preschool (also known as Little Falcon’s Nest) is Liberty High School’s on-site Early Childhood Education Career and Technical Education (CTE) lab program, directed by a certified educator and actively taught by high school students completing child development coursework. Designed to nurture the “whole child” and prepare local toddlers for kindergarten success, this tuition-based community preschool offers hands-on vocational experience for aspiring teachers while serving working families right on the Liberty campus. You can view enrollment details, schedules, and program updates directly on the Liberty High School Falcon’s Nest Preschool Page or the official Hillsboro School District Preschools Overview.
Residential Homes Are Close
Most of Hillsboro’s Data Centers, up until this point, have been in the North Hillsboro Industrial districts, with few residences immediately nearby. Larger facilities like this one are loud and pose the greatest potential to impact homes and neighborhoods. Based on our review and knowledge of our existing locations, this one will be as close to or closer than any other facility built to date. The Rock Creek neighborhoods are very close, and the Bethany community is a short distance as well. Those folks do not live in Hillsboro but should be concerned about the same issues mentioned above. This is the era we are in now. The Data Center sites have been taken over in Hillsboro’s industrial areas, which are zoned, and we now see this project and at least two others being proposed in the Northern and Eastern portions of our City. We will now see how incompatible uses can work together, if they can, without one side suffering for the other’s benefit.
This is not a Hillsboro question but rather one that Governor Tina Kotek and her DCAC task force must address swiftly. No other cities or counties should have to face this sort of a dilemma, and yet the proliferation of Data Centers and AI computing is being felt in Salem, Eugene, Portland, Boardman, The Dalles, Arlington, Hermiston, Prineville, and, frankly, any city that has available land, power, and fiber optic cabling. The industry, as we have written about, is light-years ahead of our leaders and our rules. This highlights a broader, systemic concern raised by land-use advocates across Oregon: because electric utilities update grid infrastructure outside of traditional city planning timelines, speculative developers often identify and lock up power-rich parcels long before local zoning boards or the public are even aware a project is brewing. Bottom line- if you live in a communtiy in Oregon and you believe this could not happen to you, think again. Your County or City must take local action to define data centers and AI Computing facilities, to strictly regulate where they can be located, whether a public hearing will be required, and under what set of regulations they can be built. There are certainly very few places right now that have such rules on the books.
What is the Hillsboro School District Saying?
Knowing this project was in the works and that our kids and families could be caught in the crossfire, the Hillsboro Herald reached out to the Hillsboro and Beaverton School Districts—including the School Board Members, Superintendents, and Public Information Officers. The communications were calls to action and requests for direct responses and comments. Those detailed emails were sent on June 16th and June 26th.
- No Beaverton School Board members or representatives from the Superintendent’s office or PIO responded to either communication-
- 1 Hillsboro School Board member responded to us directly, stating he was looking into it but had limited information.
- The Hillsboro School District Public Information Officer did send a response on June 18th, 2026 which we appreciated. Here is the response:
Hello Mr. Knudsen,
Thank you for taking the time to write and express your concerns about data centers, their possible placement near schools, and the potential risks to students.
Please know that we take our responsibility to protect the students in our care very seriously and are continually working to ensure their safety and wellbeing. I am confident that our partners at the City of Hillsboro feel the same way – not just about students, but about everyone in our community.
The points you raise are under active debate and fall within a realm that is not the primary purpose or area of expertise for a school district or board of directors. We simply must rely on our jurisdictional partners at the city, county, and state; emergency services; environmental protection; etc. to provide us with the most current and factual information on matters that fall within their purview.
While we sincerely appreciated that response, we know that a school district and its leadership can be as vocal and strong as they want to. Hillsboro’s response leans on the City, which has no policies specific to Data Centers, the County, which also has no standing policies, and the State and other agencies. As far as we can see, and we hope we are wrong, none of these entities have the ability to impact siting for this project or similar ones at this time.
How did we reach this point in a state like Oregon, where we take pride in protecting our environment and quality of life? Looking at the full picture, the answer is clear: we have been overly polite, naive, and dangerously slow to react. Fearing a lack of alternative tax revenue, many of our leaders have simply stood by as observers. That passive approach ends now. We know we won’t shut this industry down entirely, but the days of giving it free rein are over. Like a wild ox trampling a farm built over generations, this industry has gouged our community and taken far more than its share. We must now tame this beast—fence it in, hold it accountable, and force it to serve our local interest. Any leader not ready to step up to that challenge needs to get out of the way.
The Hillsboro Herald will report on every step of this project as it moves forward so that you can stay informed.
Next up? The corner of Cornelius Pass and Cornell has received an application for two massive buildings from the same group, and an Update on the Walker Road Data Center at the old Wells Fargo building is next on tap. No rest for those of us who care in Data Center City- Hillsboro, Oregon.
The Real Story: Data Centers Are Encroaching on Hillsboro’s Schools—and We Are Out of Time
Right here: “We have been overly polite, naive, and dangerously slow to react.”
New York has a statewide moratorium and Delaware, Pennsylvania, Vermont, and Virginia are closing in on their own because the East Coast yells about these kinds of things. Oregon’s ingrained economic inferiority complex—coupled with a predilection for politeness that makes everything from zoning to the zipper merge more onerous than necessary—has allowed companies to simply assert themselves upon cities and counties while governments dither about the correct response. By the time Hillsboro even reacts, there are 32 data centers within city limits, and lax zoning has them building right up to neighbors’ fences and schoolhouse doors.
I’m just assuming at this point that the civic leaders guiding these decisions do so because they felt hamstrung by actual zoning restrictions and failsafes in pinko Communist bastions like [checks notes] San Antonio, but Hillsboro’s citizens can be forgiven for assuming that their city would never park large industrial properties directly across from their kids’ schools or the large suburban tract developments where they spent ample sums to purchase homes. Ordinarily, even basic urban planning would preclude Hillsboro from repeating the errors of the 20th Century and creating the Superfund sites and Cancer clusters that helped turn the early beneficiaries of industrial power into the Rust Belt, but why engage in that when you can sell ballpark expenditures as public utilities and data center sprawl as infill and economic growth?
Zoning like this sends interesting messages from the city: 1. We will build industrial properties in your actual backyard. 2. We will build industrial properties right up against your kids’ schoolyard. 3. We will build industrial properties around any and all hospitality and accommodations, effectively turning them into airport hotels. 4. We will build industrial properties on any open tract regardless of where it lands in our city (looking at that plot on NW Tanasbourne Drive near Kaiser’s hospital).
For a town whose biggest selling point is “we’re not the city,” it’s starting to lose ground to a ton of other places that can make the same claim without shoving its residents up against data centers and pretending it’s fine. However, given the dropping costs of condos beyond the tunnels and the rising disparity out here, “not the city” isn’t the grand pandemic-era claim it once was.
I totally agree. They knew what they were/are doing at City Hall — this is by design. And the enterprise zone was designed by Callway/Willey to allow Hillsboro to have more revenue with it than without it. People are not listening to me. Hillsboro makes more (33%) of the tax base abated than it does with the full non-enterprise tax base—that rate is 30%. This is hard to understand, but our math has proven this. Totally proven it.
If I understand this correctly, the City of Hillsboro is the one who approves the permit? Why isn’t Washington County involved?
Also, what can we do to protest the to not approve this one by Liberty HS.
Sharon