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Lancaster council rejects plan to rezone 165 acres for data center after residents and planners object
Summary
The Lancaster City Council voted down a developer request to rezone roughly 165 acres along Nokomis Road to a Planned Development for data-center uses after a lengthy presentation, resident testimony both for and against, and a 2–5 roll-call vote fall short of the 6-of-7 supermajority required to override a Planning & Zoning denial.
The Lancaster City Council on Sept. 8 rejected a proposed rezoning that would have allowed construction of data centers and an accessory electrical substation on about 165 acres along Nokomis Road.
Developer representative Tommy Mann, speaking for EdgeConnects, described a revised plan that expanded the site from an original 75 acres to approximately 165 acres, increased open space, moved an electrical substation to the Loop 9 frontage and reduced building heights from three stories to two. Mann said the company proposed a 300-foot landscape setback along Nokomis, voluntary annexation of an adjacent parcel not now inside city limits, and that the site would be reserved for data‑center uses only, not warehouses or manufacturing.
The city manager told council that because the Planning and Zoning Commission had recommended denial on prior hearings, state and local codes require a three‑quarters majority — six of seven council members — to approve a zoning change over the commission’s recommendation. After public testimony and council questions about access, utilities and screening, Council member (speaker 4) moved to approve the rezoning, triggering a roll-call vote. The results were: Strandberg — Aye; Chaglowski — No; Mejia — Aye; Mayor Clyde C. Harrison — No; Robinson — No; Mayor Pro Tem Cheatham — No; Deputy Mayor Pro Tem Gun Davis — No. The motion failed, 2–5, leaving the property zoned Agricultural/Open.
Residents gave mixed testimony in the public hearing. Ellen Clark, who lives near the site, urged the council to preserve rural character and expressed concern that notices reach only owners within 200 feet of a change; she said many buyers acquired the land expecting rural use. Several Nokomis residents submitted written support for the project or spoke in favor at the meeting, saying Loop 9 and neighboring developments have already changed the area and that participation in development could produce tax revenue and infrastructure improvements.
Council members pressed the developer on practical issues. Mann said daily access would be from Loop 9, emergency access only on Comas Road, and that the firm had agreed to extend or fund a water line if necessary (water service is inside Rocket’s CCN). On cooling systems, Mann told council the choice between air coolers and a closed‑loop water system would depend on eventual tenants; he said data centers “are driven as much by how much power you can deliver for the customers” as by square footage.
After the vote, council considered but denied a companion amendment to the comprehensive land-use map that would have changed the property from “rural living” to “logistics and distribution.”
What happens next: the developer and the property owners may pursue other options — such as filing a modified application, seeking additional community outreach, or pursuing annexation and utilities improvements — but any future rezoning would need to clear the planning commission and meet applicable supermajority rules if the commission again recommends denial. The council also approved repeal of a related development agreement affecting an adjacent data‑center tract (a separate staff‑recommended item on the same agenda).
