Judge rules Edgerton petition seeking ban on data centers can move forward for now
A Johnson County District Court judge ruled that a citizen-led petition in Edgerton, Kansas, seeking to ban large data centers can move forward. The city had filed a lawsuit to stop the petition, arguing it was based on false information, but the judge found the city violated a state law protecting petition rights. This ruling allows residents to continue their efforts to classify data centers as industrial nuisances due to concerns over water and electricity use, and environmental impact.
A Johnson County District Court judge has allowed a citizen-led petition seeking to ban data centers in Edgerton, Kansas, to proceed, dismissing a lawsuit filed by the city. The city had challenged the petition, which aims to classify data centers as industrial nuisances to protect property and city resources like water and electricity, claiming it was based on false information.
The petitioners, including Carrie Schmidt and Kimberly Twente, argued the city's lawsuit was an attempt to stifle their First Amendment rights and violated the Kansas Public Speech Protection Act. Judge Stephanie Goodenow sided with the petitioners, stating the city failed to prove the petition was invalid and did not meet the burden to show its effort to invalidate the petition was likely to succeed.
This development follows the Edgerton City Council's decision in mid-July to deny a data center moratorium and override a planning commission's rejection to approve final site plans for an $860 million data center by Dubai-based DAMAC Digital. This project, DAMAC's first in the U.S., had faced community opposition over its water use and environmental impact. Other data center projects in Johnson County include a $3.1 billion development by Beale Infrastructure in De Soto, while a similar project in Gardner was rejected.