Tour with Eco-Yotta Officials Unpacks AI Research Center Proposal
By ERIC SANTOMAURO-STENZEL
ONEONTA
When Tirusha Dave and Prashanth Gorantala, a married couple from New Jersey, submitted a zoning proposal to the Town of Oneonta for their company Eco-Yotta Inc.’s hillside property, they weren’t expecting such a backlash. Things haven’t devolved into “Eddington,” a recent film about a rural community torn asunder by a mayoral election in the whirlwind year of 2020 while a data center grows in the background, but the tension is rising in meetings, online and on the campaign trail.
Utilizing its existing ~1,300-square-foot garage and ~10,000-square-foot barn at their property at 357 County Highway 9, Eco-Yotta plans to build a hydroponic farm managed by artificial intelligence research computers whose heat will extend the growing season to be year-round. The computers would also be used for projects by startup businesses and local students. The developers call their project an “agri-business” and have submitted a Planned Development District zoning proposal, which would allow a greater number of employees and business uses.
