Boulder City residents won't get to vote on data center approvals after petition fails
A petition in Boulder City, Nevada, to require voter approval for data center developments failed to gather enough signatures. This comes after Boulder City's planning commission previously rejected a data center proposal due to public opposition concerning power grid strain and water usage. Meanwhile, an expansion of Switch's data center campus in Clark County was approved despite local concerns.
A petition in Boulder City, Nevada, aiming to require voter approval for new data center projects, has failed to gather the necessary signatures, a city representative informed Channel 13. This development follows a prior decision by Boulder City's planning commission to reject an unnamed developer's data center proposal earlier this year, a decision made after a three-hour public hearing marked by heated opposition.
Residents raised concerns about the project's potential impact on taxpayers, the local power grid, and water supplies, despite the developer's assurances of job creation and the use of air cooling. Amanda Knuckles voiced strong opposition, stating the proposal represented an "irreversible shift" for public land in Clark County and introduced "industrial-scale strains" incompatible with a desert environment.
While Boulder City voters will still see a ballot measure regarding data centers in November, residents claim it excludes the specific land where the rejected project would have been located. The article also notes broader hesitation toward data center expansion across Southern Nevada, referencing an approved expansion of Switch's campus in the southwest valley of Clark County, which also faced local concerns about long-term impacts.