Milwaukee-based industrial automation company Rockwell Automation‘s for a 1 million-square-foot plant on a 100-acre site in New Berlin is drawing concerns and opposition from residents who say the development may negatively impact the community.

The company’s plans for the site, located east of South Moorland Road between Grange and College Avenues, are part of its $2 billion investment to improve its plants, digital infrastructure and talent.

The proposal includes 770,000 square feet to house the company’s warehouse and manufacturing operations and 40,000 square feet for office space, according to city documents. Future expansion is estimated at 190,000 square feet.

The facility, expected to cost between $211 million and $246 million, would create hundreds of new jobs, a company spokesperson previously told BizTimes.

But residents who spoke at a public hearing on the project expressed concern about the proposed facility’s operations and presence. Concerns raised include the facility’s impact on property assessments, the proposed hours of the facility, which is intended to operate 24 hours a day and seven days a week, light and noise pollution, building height and water and energy usage.

“This is going to be literally right in my backyard,” said resident Emily Feldmann. “We just put our life savings into a property that we waited two years to build. . . We are worried about our property value dropping before we even finish settling in.”

Residents like Jim Hall said there is not enough information about the project to garner community support for a zoning change requested by the company.

At the hearing, company officials said that since plans have not yet been solidified, several concerns raised, including water and energy usage, could not be definitively answered. However, the company said through a collaboration with Lanser Public Affairs, it was able to share information with more than 300 residents at their homes and more than 70 residents at a previous public meeting.

“We feel we have a lasting impact on the community,” said Kyle Lindberg, vice president of supply chain strategy and planning at Rockwell Automation. “That’s always our objective in any area we go into.”

The city’s Plan Commission will act on the zoning request at its next meeting.

Site map of Rockwell Automation’s New Berlin facility. Photo credit: Rockwell Automation/City of New Berlin.