Rose Hill City Council Rejects Petition to Put Data Center Ban on Ballot
The Rose Hill City Council rejected a petition seeking to put a ban on certain data centers and battery energy storage systems on the ballot, ruling that the proposal is administrative rather than legislative. The decision follows similar Kansas disputes in El Dorado and Emporia, where courts ordered ballot placement.
The Rose Hill City Council voted Monday that a petition seeking to ban certain data centers and battery energy storage systems cannot proceed to the ballot under Kansas law. The petition collected 230 signatures, exceeding the required threshold, but the city said the proposed ban would dictate administrative decisions involving zoning, permitting, utilities, fire safety and infrastructure.
The council authorized the city attorney to defend the decision in court if challenged. Its resolution distinguished Rose Hill from El Dorado, where a Butler County judge ruled that a similar ordinance was legislative and ordered the city to adopt it or place it on the ballot; a judge also ordered a comparable petition in Emporia onto the ballot.