Edgerton, Kansas, sues citizens trying to put data center ban before voters
The City of Edgerton, Kansas, has filed a lawsuit against two citizens and a nonprofit who successfully organized a petition to ban data centers in the city, seeking a November vote on the issue. This legal action follows a proposal by Damac Digital to convert a warehouse into an $860 million data center, prompting environmental concerns from residents. The city claims the ban is illegal and that its development services director already determined data centers are consistent with existing industrial zoning.
The City of Edgerton, Kansas, has initiated a lawsuit against two residents, Carrie Schmidt and Kimberly Twente, and the nonprofit "Public Trust Collective" they formed, following their successful petition to place a data center ban before city voters in November.
The citizens' efforts were spurred by a proposal from Dubai-based Damac Digital to develop an $860 million Heartland Data Center at Logistics Park Kansas City, just west of Interstate 35. Schmidt and Twente expressed environmental concerns, citing potential noise and air pollution as harmful to human health.
The city's lawsuit alleges that attempting to ban data centers as nuisances is illegal and that assertions about the city's role in the data center proposal are factually inaccurate, noting the city does not control power or water resources for the site. City Attorney Todd Luckman served the lawsuit to the activists at a recent city council meeting. According to the lawsuit, Edgerton's city development services director determined in April 2025 that data centers were consistent with the industrial zoning for Logistics Park. The Edgerton City Council later approved a plan in August to seek proposals for new city regulations concerning data centers, suggesting a current lack of comprehensive oversight.
Schmidt and Twente face a potential legal cost of approximately $20,000 to defend themselves and their non-profit. The city has declined to comment on the ongoing litigation.