Summary
- Peschiera Borromeo issued a building permit for the San Bovio data centre on 18 August 2026.
- Officials confirmed that no separate independent external legal opinion on planning compatibility had been commissioned by the municipality.
- The council maintains that its own technical assessment supported the approvals and that newer regional rules did not apply retroactively.
Officials in Peschiera Borromeo, near Milan, have defended the authorisation process for a planned Microsoft data centre at San Bovio, following renewed questions about land use compatibility and the application of Lombardy’s regional data centre legislation.
Mayor Andrea Coden and municipal planning representatives outlined the project’s administrative history during a press conference reported on 26 October, including earlier planning decisions, technical assessments, and the building permit issued on 18 August 2026.
The development concerns the former Postalmarket site, acquired by Microsoft Italia in November 2021. Its planning history extends back several years, including discussions about Microsoft’s potential use of the location in August 2020.
The municipality adopted the site’s implementing plan on 9 October 2024 and approved it on 31 January 2025. The planning process subsequently moved through further administrative and technical procedures before the August 2026 building permit.
Local publication 7giorni has questioned the legal basis for determining whether a data centre was compatible with the site’s planning designation. Part of the available documentation included an assessment prepared by lawyer Cristina Melentieva of CMS.
During the press conference, municipal architect Gervasini confirmed that the council had not commissioned a second, independent external legal opinion on that question.
He maintained that checking conformity with the planning designation fell within the responsibilities of the municipality’s technical offices. Under that interpretation, the CMS document was supplementary material supplied through the development process rather than the sole basis for granting permission.
The absence of a separately commissioned legal opinion does not independently establish that the authorisation was unlawful. The substantive question is whether the approval complied with the planning instruments and legislation applicable to the project.
Questions have also arisen over Lombardy’s data centre legislation, approved on 3 June 2026 and published two days later.
The new regional framework was introduced while later stages of the San Bovio authorisation process were proceeding. A decisive interagency meeting took place on 19 June, close to the deadline for municipalities to adapt to the new legislation.
7giorni questioned why the meeting documentation did not specifically record an assessment of the new law’s applicability.
Gervasini argued that the implementing plan had already been adopted and approved, with a subsequent agreement carrying contractual significance. The technical offices considered that the newer legislation could not apply retroactively to the existing procedure.
That remains the municipality’s legal interpretation rather than the outcome of an independent judicial determination. The absence of a specific reference in the meeting minutes has become one of the questions raised by local scrutiny.
Coden said the administration had limited grounds for reopening a process that had already advanced through several approval stages. Suspending it without sufficient legal justification, he argued, could have exposed the municipality to litigation.
The mayor identified mitigation measures and discussions with Microsoft as the principal areas where the municipality retained scope for intervention.
Planning compatibility remains particularly sensitive for large data centre developments because they combine commercial building requirements with substantial electrical, cooling, and supporting infrastructure.
Land use classifications, environmental assessment, utility connections, and the treatment of neighbouring communities may all affect whether a proposed development can proceed in the form presented by its promoter.
Lombardy is also considering changes to its regional planning framework as additional data centre applications place pressure on municipal authorities to interpret technical and administrative requirements consistently.
The San Bovio project therefore faces continued scrutiny over the interpretation of existing permissions rather than a newly reported withdrawal of consent.
Further municipal proceedings or legal challenges could clarify the dispute. The building permit remains the documented administrative decision, while questions about the legal reasoning behind it have not been conclusively resolved.
