Box Elder County rejects data center referendum, opponents plan legal action

Opponents of the hyperscale data center said they plan to take legal action after Box Elder County ruled residents will not have a chance to challenge county commissioners’ decision to approve a hyperscale data center plan at the ballot box this fall. “Following a mandatory legal review of these applications, Box Elder County Attorney Stephen R. Hadfield has officially determined that neither referendum is legally referable to voters,” the county said in a statement Thursday afternoon. “As a result, the referendum applications have been rejected.” Hadform said the county had received three land use referendum applications and met the state legal standards. A main group behind the referendum push, the Box Elder Accountability Referendum (BEAR), filed with the county earlier this month, seeking to challenge two resolutions passed by county commissioners: resolution 26-11, which officially gave county consent for the project, and resolution 26-12, which created an interlocal agreement between the county and the state board that originally approved the project. Reporting: Addy Baird Video: Trevor Christensen The Salt Lake Tribune