KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The Jackson County Legislature approved an ordinance Monday for an 180-day moratorium on the processing of data center land use applications and Battery Energy Storage System land use applications.
The purpose of the ordinance is "for the purpose of developing a long-term policy and accompanying County Code provisions related to such applications, including the direction of regulatory standards and enhanced public notification requirement," the legislation states.
“At the Stop the AI Data Center town hall in Independence, residents made it clear they wanted their voices heard before decisions of this magnitude are made,” said Manny Abarca, chairman of the Jackson County Legislature, in a news release. “This ordinance is about pressing pause—not stopping progress. It allows Jackson County to carefully evaluate the long-term impacts these projects could have on our neighborhoods, infrastructure, public safety, utilities, and quality of life.”
A group of Independence residents made a persistent effort in the last few months to prevent a Dutch tech company, Nebius, from building a data center.
They protested at city council meetings and even took their case to court to prevent the data center from being built.
RELATED | Q&A: Taking Independence residents’ concerns to Nebius VP of public affairs
A judge dismissed a lawsuit this group filed in an attempt to force a city-wide vote on the project.
“I don’t think there’s anything we can do here," Howard Hoff told KSHB 41 Political Reporter Charlie Keegan. "But if enough people hear our voices and see what we're doing, maybe it will save another community from having to go through what we're going through."
The company broke ground on the data center in May.
Keegan reported the company planned to build the center on 400 acres off Little Blue Parkway and Bly Road.
Preliminary plans revealed that Nebius will build four buildings.
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