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The Shawnee County data center fight has a new voice in print: Protect Kansas just released the first issue of its eNewsletter.
The folks fighting hyperscale data centers in Shawnee County now have their own newsletter. Protect Kansas, the grassroots group whose yard signs have been sprouting around town all summer, released Volume 1, Issue 1 of the Protect Kansas eNewsletter, dated Sept. 20.
“Thank you for your support as we fight for protections against hyperscale data centers in Shawnee County, Kansas. We are glad to have you as part of the resistance.”
The first issue goes after three targets.
The 40 acres
Protect Kansas says GoTopeka owns 40 acres of the site where Compass Datacenters wants to build, and that the land was bought with money from the county-wide half-cent sales tax that funds the economic development group. “We paid for the land. We deserve a say,” the newsletter argues.
The group is urging residents to contact the Joint Economic Development Organization (JEDO), whose board includes the Shawnee County Commissioners, the mayor and the Topeka City Council.
Contact JEDO (per the newsletter): cclerk@topeka.org, counselors@snco.us, commission@snco.us
Next JEDO meeting (per the newsletter): Wednesday, Dec. 9, 5 p.m. To speak, email cclerk@topeka.org by 3 p.m. that day with “PUBLIC COMMENT” in the subject line.
Property taxes
The group takes aim at Compass’s own FAQ page, which cites a Realtor.com study to argue that nearby home values aren’t hurt by data centers. Protect Kansas points out that the same study found property tax rates near large data centers ease when they open, then rise above baseline, and quotes its warning that anyone expecting their tax bill to fall “should not count on it.”
Old data center vs. new
A side-by-side graphic in the newsletter compares Topeka’s existing ISG Technology data center downtown, at 16,350 square feet and up to 10 megawatts, with Compass’s proposal: 606 acres, up to 600 megawatts, and 840 megawatts of backup generators.
The group lists the land, water, heat, noise, emissions and construction impacts it expects near Pauline South elementary, the Wakarusa watershed, Mars, the Walmart distribution center and neighbors.
Where things stand
Compass Datacenters is proposing a 10-building campus southwest of Topeka at 3303 SW 77th St. in Wakarusa. The company’s case is that the site was already zoned for industrial and by-right data center use and has strong fiber in the region, and projections cited by supporters put tax revenue at an estimated $37 million a year to Shawnee County, $28 million to the city of Topeka and $43 million to the Auburn-Washburn school district.
The county bounced Compass’s conditional use permit application as incomplete in August. This month, county commissioners hired CFS Engineers to review the permit, looking at stormwater runoff, cooling chemicals, light and noise, including noise from diesel backup generators near the Montara neighborhood. The City of Topeka, meanwhile, approved a one-year moratorium on data centers this summer.
Protect Kansas isn’t alone in its skepticism. A recent Gallup poll found 48% of Americans strongly oppose building data centers in their neighborhood, with another 23% somewhat opposed.
Dystopeka has been tracking the Shawnee County data center push since July, including open records requests to the city and county. Read the first installment here.
This article is connected to newer related coverage and supporting context below.
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