FREDERICK COUNTY, Md. (WBFF) — Following a controversial data center zoning decision in Frederick County, residents and organizations are now trying to get enough signatures to put the issue up for a vote in the next election.
The Tri-County Coalition, an environmental conservation group made up of numerous organizations working together, is behind the push for a referendum.
“What I think is really important is for an issue this important and this impactful on Frederick County, that if the people want to have a say, they should get to make the decision. And if, after Election Day, a majority of Frederick County voters say they want to have a huge data center zone in the county, well then that’s what the people want,” Steve Black, president of the Sugarloaf Alliance, which is an organization part of the coalition, said.
“But what we saw from community pushback, from public comments and public statements was that there was an enormous segment of the population in Frederick County does not want to go down this path, and so we should let them have a voice and see, see which wins,” he added.
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Recently, the Frederick County Council approved a proposal that allows for data centers to be built on about 2,600 acres of land near the Adamstown area.
“This approach protects approximately 99.4% of the county from data center development by concentrating it in one single area where infrastructure already exists to support it,” Frederick County Councilman Mason Carter said.
“I think this Council is just fixated on the revenue potential and they are willing to ignore all the rest,” County Councilmember Steve McKay said.
All they see are the dollar signs and ignore the human costs of this proposal.”
While supporters have argued data centers are critical to the economy and for technological advancements, other residents have voiced fierce opposition.
“When we have more businesses here attracting more people, we’re going to build better schools, we’re going to have better infrastructure. The data center is a magnet for that,” resident Chelle Davis said.
“The additional data centers are going to cause our electricity costs to soar. We’ll have even more noise, dirt, air pollution, and light pollution. And still, we are getting nothing,” resident Sharon Chaney added.
ALSO READ | Frederick County in uproar as council debates tighter rules for future data centers
This debate is where the push for a referendum comes in. Black said they will need to get about 15,000 signatures in the next few months in order to get the issue on the ballot. While they are still working out logistics of collecting signatures, interested residents can reach out to SmartergrowthFC@gmail.com.
“So it may be the people in Adamstown are the loudest, but the impacted crowd goes far beyond Adamstown,” Black said.
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