The city of Edgerton has filed a lawsuit in Johnson County District Court to block a citizen-led petition seeking to ban data centers in the small southern Johnson County community. On Aug. 4, the city filed the lawsuit against Kimberly Twente, Carrie Schmidt, the civic watchdog nonprofit group Twente recently incorporated, Public Trust Collective Inc., as well as other unnamed defendants, alleging their petition aimed at stopping data centers from being built in the city is “legally and factually deficient.” The petition proposes an ordinance classifying data centers as “industrial nuisances” that would have “substantial risks to the public health, welfare, and peace” and have a negative effect on local and regional infrastructure, including utilities. The city argues in its lawsuit that the proposed ordinance would, in effect, function as a zoning restriction, making the matter “administrative” and not legislative, meaning it would not fall under the citizen petition process.
Read more: Johnson County Post
