Want to Speak About the Flint Hills Digital Campus? Here's How the June 23 Hearing Will Work

The Emporia-Lyon County Metropolitan Area Planning Commission has scheduled a public hearing for June 23 at the Emporia Civic Auditorium to consider the proposed Flint Hills Digital Campus project. The hearing will address three distinct items: the establishment of a Digital Infrastructure Overlay district, the rezoning of 11 specific tracts within the project area, and the official application of this new overlay district to those tracts.

Emporia City Manager Trey Cocking confirmed that each item will be treated as a separate public hearing. This structure will allow both proponents and opponents of the project three minutes each to voice their opinions on each item before the Planning Commission discusses and votes. Property owners who receive official notice of the rezoning proposal have a 14-day window post-hearing to file a protest petition. If a valid petition representing at least 20% of the affected property area is submitted, the Emporia City Commission would then require a supermajority vote to approve the project.

The proposed rezoning aims to classify Tracts 1 through 10 as light industrial zoning and Tract 11, located closer to Emporia and north of the Jones Aquatic Center, as industrial flex zoning. Cocking noted that more specific details regarding the layout and future development, particularly for Tract 11, will be provided later in the process. Any development on Tract 11 will necessitate a planned unit development (PUD) review, requiring developers to submit detailed site plans for buildings, screening, and landscaping. The City Manager emphasized that the project must offer clear benefits to the community to proceed.