Goyang City Refutes City Council Special Committee's Data Center Probe: "Unreasonable to Judge Permits Solely on Tax Revenue"

City: "Reinvestigating a Case Dismissed by the Board of Audit and Inspection... Concerns Over Administrative Waste"
Permits Must Be Comprehensively Reviewed According to Legal Procedures and Standards

Goyang Special City in Gyeonggi Province (Mayor Lee Donghwan) has issued an official statement in direct response to the city council's launch of the "Special Committee for Administrative Investigation on the Appropriateness of the Goyang Data Center Construction" (hereinafter referred to as the Special Committee).

The city made it clear that it is unreasonable to judge data center permits solely based on the "tax revenue contribution" indicator, emphasizing that such decisions must be comprehensively reviewed in accordance with legal procedures and standards.

The city firmly rebutted the Special Committee's claim that "there is no reason to push forward with the data center since its tax revenue contribution is low."

An official from Goyang Special City stated, "Large-scale development projects such as data centers are subject to multi-faceted reviews, including urban planning, transportation, and environmental considerations, based on laws and ordinances before approval is granted." The official stressed, "Specific tax revenue figures are merely reference indicators and cannot serve as the core standard for permit decisions." The city's position is that it is inappropriate to determine the validity of a project based solely on its tax revenue contribution.

Regarding the controversy over adjustments to the Urban Planning Committee's schedule, the official explained, "The committee operates based on an annual plan, but adjusts its schedule by comprehensively considering the nature of agenda items, committee member attendance rates, and peak vacation periods." The official added, "This is a standard administrative measure to improve participation rates and the efficiency of deliberations."

In response to concerns over the Second Deputy Mayor performing the role of committee chair, the city stated, "From the committee formation stage, it was stipulated through prior approval by the mayor that the Second Deputy Mayor would carry out these duties, so there are no procedural issues."

Additionally, the city pointed out that the Board of Audit and Inspection had already "dismissed" the city council's request for a public interest audit (Case No. 2025-Gongik-063) regarding the data center permit in Munbong-dong, Goyang, on August 26. The city noted, "For the council to form a separate special committee and conduct another administrative investigation into a matter that has already been concluded by a national agency raises concerns about unnecessary administrative waste."

An official from Goyang Special City stated, "We have faithfully carried out administrative procedures in accordance with laws and principles, and we will continue to pursue fair and transparent administration based on objective standards." The official added, "We will also fully cooperate with the Special Committee's investigation process so that the facts can be clearly established."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.