Mason Mayor Russell Whipple says he’s part of a group working on a complete rewrite of the city’s zoning ordinance.
Whipple shared the update during a town hall Monday night on a potential data center development.
While there was disagreement among City Council members about whether a now-repealed zoning change to impose additional guardrails on data centers went far enough, most City Council members seemed to agree that the city now lacks any protections.
Whipple said the new zoning ordinance would include even stricter guidelines.
Councilmember John Vercher said the reason it hasn’t come back up yet is because of the anti-data center activists who have attended recent City Council meetings.
“We’ve been under threat that anything we bring forward will be up to a citizens’ referendum to shoot down,” Vercher said.
City Council members and planning commission members could consider the changes during a joint meeting later this year.
Whipple emphasized during the town hall that the city doesn’t have any action to take until receiving a rezoning request or a site plan application.
“The constant drumbeat of ‘stop, stop, stop,’ we can’t do that now,” Whipple said. “There’s nothing to stop.”
Paula Caltrider has been organizing opposition to data centers and said it’s unlikely the town hall changed anyone’s perspective.
“I think what they were trying to do is trying to make it like people were confused and misguided when we already knew everything that they were trying to explain,” Caltrider said.
