Glendale is working through the process of annexing a proposed data center and natural gas electric generation facility in the West Valley that comes with controversy, community opposition and questions about its compatibility with Luke Air Force Base.
City officials began the potential annexation process April 28 for the $36 billion Project Baccara, projected to be on 160 acres north of Olive Avenue and a half mile west of Litchfield Road. The property is currently owned by Maricopa County and zoned for heavy industrial use.
Plans for Project Baccara include two 1 million-square-foot data centers, a 700-megawatt natural gas power plant with 16 turbines and an Arizona Public Service Co. substation.
The Glendale City Council unanimously approved the pre-annexation development with Baccara Eagle Land LLC. Councilmember Lupe Conchas made his reservations about the project clear, but said further debate will come with formal annexation discussions and a future site plan.
“The questions I was trying to ask is really getting to children and pregnant women, especially with the birth defects that these chemicals that will be emitted can cause. But this is a pre-annexation development agreement. That means we’ve got to focus on this,” Conchas said.
The Maricopa County Board of Supervisors, during its May 6 meeting, approved a military compatibility permit for the project by a 4-1 vote, with District 5 Supervisor Steve Gallardo dissenting. Luke Air Force Base sent the Baccara team a list of conditions that must be met for the base’s letter of compatibility to be approved.
Supervisor Debbie Lesko, whose District 4 would include the site, said she believed the project was a fit with the base.
“I do believe that it is compatible with the military use,” Lesko said. “We’re not here today, really, to discuss if this should remain vacant land. We’re here for this military compatibility permit. It’s already zoned heavy industrial.”
County Director of Planning and Development Tom Ellsworth said there has been significant conversation with Luke officials regarding its letter of compatibility.
“In a letter from the Air Force base dated March 13, 2026, they stated that the proposed development is not compatible or consistent with Luke’s operations unless listed conditions are met,” Ellsworth said.
If Project Baccara is not compatible with the base’s conditions, Michigan-based power infrastructure company Takanock would not receive building permits.
“To the question is this compatible? That’s what I really struggle with. I really do not believe that this is the appropriate location for this project,” Gallardo said.
The supervisors’ vote only established permitted land uses. No zoning questions or site issues were approved.
Public sentiment is overwhelmingly against the project, particularly from residents of nearby Surprise and Waddell. Twenty-two people spoke against the project May 6 and three in favor of it.
“Under ARS 28-8461 ... utilities are generally not permissible in high noise and accident-potential zones near military airports,” Former Surprise Councilman Todd Tande said. “The Luke Air Force Base commanding general has already identified this site as a critical flight corridor, described Project Baccara, using the applicant’s own language, as a utility. That alone creates a direct statutory conflict that has not been resolved on the record.”
Tande, who is leading the Project Baccara Opposition Group with more than 7,300 petition signatures signed against the development, said the board is being asked to approve an incomplete deal with unresolved legal issues.
Maricopa County received more than 440 comments in opposition to Project Baccara and five in support.
Hollie Tolmachoff’s family of six, who live less than a half mile away, are among the closest residents to the data center site.
“This decision is not just about zoning. It’s about whether the law will be applied consistently and whether existing residents will be protected,” Tolmachoff said.
According to Tolmachoff, there are 12 families that have been blocked from building homes in the area under state law protecting military bases. She questioned if the same standards would be used for the data center development.
“How can the county restrict their families from building homes under the statute but approve a 744-megawatt industrial utility project in the exact same flight path?” Tolmachoff asked.
Beth Mortensen, who lives in one of five homes about 2,000 feet from the proposed project, spoke at both the Glendale and county meetings.
Her husband, Troy, said Project Baccara is significantly different than anything in Glendale’s industrial district. He fears the site’s concrete-covered propane fuel tanks will be a terrorist target.
“We all know development comes and changes things. I’m not against that. But this is a different beast,” Beth Mortensen said.
The site lies within the Luke Air Force Base noise contours, which means residential development is banned under state law. Less than a dozen homes were grandfathered in before the noise contours were adopted, Ellsworth said. The closest is 400 feet from the proposed project site.
Patricia Wolf, who lives nearby in Surprise, said she had to sign a document acknowledging the regular noise coming from the Air Force base and did so willingly. This is different, Wolf said.
“I didn’t sign a document agreeing to noise from a utility and didn’t know that will bring down the value of our home as well,” Wolf said. “We can’t drink data. We need water.”
Attorney Ed Bull, with Phoenix-based Burch & Cracchiolo PA who is representing Baccara Eagle Land, said the propane storage area is under 6 inches of reinforced concrete.
“Under the worst-case scenario, it will not cause harm to either the residential area to the north or to Luke Air Force Base,” Bull said.
He also said this data center’s design will use 1% of the water used by an evaporative water-cooled data center of a similar size.
Capand Alizadeh on behalf of the Arizona Technology Council spoke in support of the project. He claimed data centers help to drive business in national defense, health care and financial technology.
“The data center positions are not only well-paying jobs, they are careers that offer health insurance benefits and retirement benefits,” Alizadeh said.
Nora McInerny lives in Central Phoenix but spoke out against the project.
“You don’t need to live near one of these proposed data centers to oppose them. You need only to have the slightest amount of critical thinking and intelligence,” McInerny said.
During the May 6 meeting, North Phoenix resident Tammy Weaver said she fought the Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. project rezoning near her home.
“This is a miscarriage of justice and loss of community trust,” Weaver said. “It’s shameful, what we are seeing across Maricopa County with all these projects and incompatible use being put near residential.”
Hillary Webber of Surprise spoke at both meetings.
April Butler of Waddell also spoke against the project at both meetings, as did Roy and Kimberly Dunbar of Surprise.
Roy Dunbar said April 28 he filed a complaint three years ago with Glendale regarding noise from the Ball manufacturing facility in Glendale.
Glendale will have to assume oversight for the project, including the lawsuits sure to follow, Dunbar said.
“There have been a few conceptual site plans for this project but the final site plan will not be approved until the project is annexed, zoned and has gone through the design review process with the city of Glendale,” said Randy Huggins, Glendale director of Development Services.
Richard Smith Senior News Editor | Glendale & West Valley Preps
Richard Smith has been with Independent Newsmedia since 2016, and worked at a Sun City-based news outfit covering the Northwest Valley for 22 consecutive years.
An NAU alum and lifelong Arizona resident, Richard began as a copy editor and page designer at Surprise Today and the Daily News-Sun, then rekindled his love of sports writing by taking the reins on West Valley Preps in 2008.
For most of the mid-2010s he was the Surprise editor and West Valley Preps reporter. Now he’s the West Valley Preps Editor and Surprise Associate Editor.
As COVID restrictions slowly lift, Richard is cautiously optimistic he will visit book stores, football fields and gyms again this fall.
Project Baccara,
data center,
Luke Air Force Base,
Roy Dunbar ,
Hillary Webber,
Surprise,
April Butler,
Debbie Lesko,
Lupe Conchas,
Tom Ellsworth,
Ed Bull,
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