McPherson County residents responded to an invitation for public comment at Monday night’s McPherson County Planning and Zoning meeting.
Citizens filled the meeting room on the 4th floor and the 5th floor overflow room to listen, learn and participate in the process of zoning regulation amendments for the unincorporated area of McPherson County. A majority who spoke pushed for regulations to guard against further development of the emerging technology.
Last year, McPherson County Commissioners placed a moratorium on Data Centers, Battery Energy Storage Systems and Hydrogen Energy Transfer Facilities for further study. Monday’s meeting was a chance to fulfill the board’s obligation to hear input from the community.
Local business owner, Nick Voss stated, “Digital infrastructure is here to stay, if we don’t host in America, foreign competitors like China will capture the growth.” Let’s use this pause to put smart, performance based zoning in place so that McPherson County stays open for responsible, economic growth.”
Trish Kinkel of McPherson is against allowing more data centers. She gathered 94 signatures on a petition outside the venue Monday, and tells Ad Astra News she aims to keep McPherson County rural. “We’re just citizens who love our community,” she said. “We want to protect our water supply, our electrical grid – we don’t want noise.”
The committee is now tasked with reviewing written and oral statements as the process moves forward to decide how property is developed and used.
