Residents, local counsel urge moratorium on proposed hyperscale data center over noise, zoning and legal concerns

Residents and a local attorney urged the Osawatomie City Council on July 9 to pause permitting or zoning actions tied to a proposed hyperscale data center near residential land and a behavioral health facility.

Lee Brewer, identified to the council as a public commenter, said the planned campus could "exceed 500 megawatts" and raised a string of operational questions about backup generators that he said were unanswered: "How many generators will there be? Will they be tier 2 or tier 4 engines? Will each be stored above ground or below ground? Can each generator be tested during the day, at night, or low?" Brewer told the council that routine testing and continuous operations could produce sustained noise and that placing a large data campus beside homes and a health facility "is simply the wrong decision." (Lee Brewer, public commenter.)

Another resident warned of prolonged construction and pointed to a federal executive order that he said expedites permitting for data-center infrastructure, arguing that mitigation credits could allow environmental harm to be offset elsewhere rather than remediated locally. That commenter urged council members to examine wetlands, power use and permitting processes before moving forward. (Resident/public commenter.)

Steve Stinkerman, who the mayor identified following his remarks, told the council he had submitted legal memoranda to the city attorney and argued the city’s predevelopment agreement appeared to commit municipal assistance to securing approvals before zoning definitions and the public process were complete. "If the usage is not defined, then it is considered prohibited," Stinkerman said, and he warned that the agreement’s language could amount to unlawful contract zoning. He asked the council to adopt a moratorium on zoning actions related to the project so the city can ensure the process follows established rules. (Steve Stinkerman.)

A resident also asked whether a large data center could draw power from the surrounding grid at the expense of residents during emergencies and referenced concerns about surveillance tied to out-of-state examples; the council did not provide a substantive response in the recorded transcript. (Resident/public commenter.)

Why it matters: Commenters framed the issue as both a land-use and public-safety question — raising potential impacts on nearby homes and a behavioral health facility, procedural fairness in zoning, and legal exposure for the city if approvals are perceived as pre-committed.

What happened next: The council recorded public comments, discussed routine agenda items and later moved into an executive session for attorney consultation; the transcript records no vote or formal action to impose a moratorium on the project during this meeting.

Context and next steps: Speakers asked the council to (1) clarify whether the city’s predevelopment agreement includes commitments to assist the developer obtain zoning approvals, (2) define hyperscale data centers in local ordinances if the use is to be considered, (3) examine potential noise and testing schedules for backup generators, and (4) consider a temporary moratorium while the legal and planning issues are reviewed. The council did not announce follow-up items in the transcript. (Provenance: topic intro SEG 097; topic finish SEG 303.)