KANSAS CITY, Mo. — KSHB 41 reporter Lily O’Shea Becker covers Franklin and Douglas counties in Kansas. Share your story idea with Lily.
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A Franklin County District Court judge ruled in favor of Ottawa United Inc. on Tuesday, giving voters the right to decide whether hyper-scale data centers can be developed in Ottawa city limits for 10 years.
Ottawa residents have already began voting on whether they want to prohibit the city from allowing or constructing any data center that uses more than 25 megawatts of power.
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In late August, Ottawa residents Michael Lewis and Kim Conard sued the city. Under Ottawa United Inc., the two alleged city officials ignored a citizen-led initiative petition that gained enough signatures to get the ballot question before the city commission for approval or before voters in November.
Facing an election deadline, Franklin County District Court judge Eric W. Godderz ruled in September that the citizen-led proposed ordinance would go on the November ballot while the issue remained in court.
At the time, Ottawa United Inc. was fighting a 300-acre proposed data center site on the south side of town. The city has since terminated its contract with the developer that was interested in the site.
During the September preliminary hearing, Godderz said the court still need to decide whether the proposed ordinance applies to Kansas law.
Placing the question on the November ballot saved the city money — estimated by the Franklin County clerk to be between $10,000 and $15,000 — by avoiding a special election, Godderz said.
Ottawa retained attorney Michelle Stewart of Hinkel Law Firm to represent the city in the case. On Tuesday, she argued the proposed ordinance restricts Ottawa's existing land use code, and therefore impacts how the city can develop land that is already zoned for industrial use.
The judge disagreed and said because data centers are not currently included in the city's land use code, the proposed ordinance would not modify or prohibit existing law.
"This is a new law," Godderz said.
Godderz ruled the proposed ordinance is legislative and not administrative, meaning it stands under K.S.A. 12-3013.
Godderz denied the city's motion to dismiss Ottawa United's petition and said it's now up to voters to decide whether to ban hyper-scale data centers in city limits.
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