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ST. CHARLES — The developer of a controversial 440-acre data center has withdrawn plans for the project.

CRG, the development arm of construction giant Clayco, on Monday afternoon notified the city that it was pulling the project off Tuesday’s council meeting agenda. The city marked CRG’s request as “withdrawn.�

The move comes after weeks of consternation from residents, new reports alleging pollution and wildlife concerns, and recent allegations that the data center site was largely owned by a relative of St. Charles Mayor Dan Borgmeyer.

“It was doomed,� said Councilman Bart Haberstroh. “This is the best possible outcome that we could have possibly have.�

But CRG, in its withdrawal letter, said it plans to work with the city to retool its proposal, dubbed Project Cumulus.

“Over the past months, Project Cumulus has conducted comprehensive analyses of the project, its impacts, and its anticipated community benefits,� Christopher McKee, president of CRG, said in the letter. “Despite the extensive work, we recognize the need to enhance our outreach process to ensure that information is accessible and clearly communicated to the public.�

“We firmly believe this project has the potential to bring significant benefits to the City and the greater ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ region,â€� he continued.

CRG did not respond to a request for further comment.

On Sunday, a citizen’s group called for an investigation into efforts to bring the data center to north St. Charles near Highway 370, citing a lack of transparency on the project, concerns over environmental impacts and the mayor’s relationship to the landowner, Clarice Hollrah, who is a cousin of Borgmeyer.

City council members said on Monday that they didn’t know Borgmeyer was related to the site’s owner. Several council members have recently expressed doubts about the project.

Late Monday morning, Borgmeyer himself said he no longer supported the effort.

“There has been a total lack of transparency on this project,� Borgmeyer told the Post-Dispatch. “After the failed attempt by Clayco and CRG to explain this project to the public, I can’t support it. We all still have a ton of unanswered questions.�

Borgmeyer’s cousin

But Borgmeyer also said he doesn’t know Hollrah — the daughter of Borgmeyer’s grandfather’s brother — their families are not close, and he didn’t know she owns the land.

“I have no recollection of the Hollrahs ever being involved in my family,� he said. “I have a family reunion in September, and I can guarantee that there won’t be any Hollrahs there.�

He called any insinuation that he would personally have profited from the data center deal “absurd.�

Hollrah, reached by phone, declined comment.

The proposed data center would have been used by an unknown American Fortune-100 company, officials have said. If approved, it would have been built on farmland near an industrial area between Huster Road and Harry S Truman Boulevard.

City officials said they signed non-disclosure agreements barring them from releasing the name of the company.

Officials touted the project as transformative. Tim Brinker, vice president of government relations at the region’s business lobby, Greater ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ Inc., said it — with the Boeing Corp. and the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, for example — would have turned ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ into a “national defense tech hub.â€�

The St. Charles County Regional Chamber of Commerce said it would have generated “significant economic growth,� created high-quality jobs, and strengthened the region’s position “as a hub for technology and innovation.�

“This project represents the type of forward-thinking economic development that benefits our entire community,� said Scott Tate, CEO of the regional chamber.

But some St. Charles councilmen were skeptical. And the proposal was controversial with St. Charles residents.

Hundreds of residents came to recent meetings with lists of concerns, from construction dust to energy use to wildlife impacts to water pollution — several said they worried diesel fuel needed to power generators could contaminate nearby wetlands, farms and the city’s drinking water.

Worries from the state

On Sunday, the citizen’s group sent an email to the office of Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey and U.S. Attorney Thomas Albus, blasting the project for a lack of transparency and Borgmeyer for his relationship to the landowner.

And, late Monday, two letters were sent out questioning the impact on wildlife and water.

Officials with the Missouri Department of Conservation said in one of the letters that the agency was initially told the project was “light industrial,� but later learned it was a data center that would dump five million gallons of water per day into Dardenne Creek.

“Had these details been provided to the Department at the time of the review, more in-depth consideration of a potential aquatic resource and species impacts, and an internal Department staff review would have occurred,� agency Director Jason A. Sumners said.

The department asked for more time to review the project.

The second letter, sent by the Great Rivers Habitat Alliance, worried about nearby wetlands, which officials describe as “extremely important for migratory birds.� The data center project, the Great Rivers letter said, posed “significant and irreversible threats to our region’s ecological integrity, water safety and flood resilience,� and urged the city council to block the proposal.

Late Monday, some council members were relieved to hear of CRG’s decision.

Councilman Vince Ratchford said residents were “loud and clear in their opposition to this.�

Councilman Bill Otto said, while he opposed the project’s location, he believed that the data center could have benefited the city.

“This data center doesn’t belong in the flood plain or anywhere near our drinking water,� Otto said. “But there were certainly positives with this project. It would have created jobs.�

A final vote on the project was slated for 7 p.m. Tuesday at the St. Charles County Convention Center.

The developer’s request needed support from seven of the 10 councilmembers to pass, because the city’s zoning commission recommended denial of the project.