How Frederick County’s first citizen-led referendum failed in court
A citizen-led referendum in Frederick County, Maryland, aimed at overturning a 2,600-acre data center overlay zone was rejected by the Maryland Supreme Court. The court found the petition ineligible due to technical issues with its formatting and content, despite over 21,000 signatures being collected. This marks the first time a citizen-initiated referendum on a county council action has gone to court in Frederick County.
Frederick County, Maryland, saw its first citizen-led referendum attempt fail in court, following an effort by 21,000 residents to challenge the county's data center policy. The Frederick County Council had approved Ordinance 26.01.001 in December, establishing a 2,600-acre Critical Digital Infrastructure Overlay Zone (CDI-OZ) north of Adamstown, which was larger than a 1,000-acre smaller map proposed earlier by the planning commission. Residents formed the Data Center Referendum Committee (DCRC) to contest the overlay zone's size, successfully collecting over 21,000 signatures within 59 days to force a public vote.
However, the referendum was appealed by developers and landowners, leading to a legal battle that reached the Maryland Supreme Court. The high court upheld a previous circuit court decision, ruling the referendum's petition ineligible and unclear. The primary issues cited included the DCRC's decision to shrink the font size and print color-coded overlay zone maps in black and white to fit the ordinance on a single page, which the court deemed made the petition unintelligible to the ordinary person.
Elizabeth Bauer, a DCRC board member, expressed frustration over the outcome, calling it a social injustice and highlighting the significant financial and time commitment made by volunteers. She emphasized the need for a more accessible referendum process, especially given the county's relative inexperience with such citizen initiatives. The ruling meant the DCRC also faced paying the legal fees of the opposing data centers and landowners, further underscoring the challenges faced by grassroots movements in navigating complex legal and bureaucratic systems.