Mona residents demand answers over data center
Residents of Mona, Utah, discovered a data center project was approved in Juab County months after the fact, sparking anger over a perceived lack of transparency. A local group, Mona Cares, is organizing residents and demanding the county reverse the conditional use permit.
Residents of Mona, Utah, only recently learned about a data center proposed near their town in Juab County, despite a conditional use permit having been approved by the planning commission in April. The KSL investigators looked into concerns about transparency surrounding the approval process for the Nebo North LLC project, which is planned for a site across from nearby farms.
Taylor Flake, who organized the group Mona Cares, stated that residents found out about the project when a developer asked to run a pipe through his property. The group held a rally at city hall and attended a county commissioners meeting in Rocky Ridge, demanding their voices be heard and criticizing the use of a conditional use permit instead of a zoning change, which meant no individual mail notices were sent.
Commission Chair Clint Painter maintained that the county followed the law by posting notices in three required locations. However, residents argue the notice, which simply read "Nebo North LLC conditional use permit," did not clearly indicate a massive industrial data center. The public hearing for the project lasted only four minutes due to low attendance.
It remains uncertain if the permit can be legally reversed without incurring significant lawsuits from the developer. KSL reached out to the developer for comment but did not receive a response.