The State Boundary Commission has scheduled its review of an annexation request that could lay the groundwork for a hyperscale data center development in Mason.
A group of several Vevay Township landowners is seeking to annex more than 400 acres of farmland at the corner of College and Columbia roads into the city of Mason.
The request is the only item on the agenda for the State Boundary Commission's meeting Oct. 7.
The annexation would allow the potential data center development to connect to city utilities.
City officials say the development would more than double its tax base, with an initial minimum investment of $1 billion and a minimum taxable value of $500 million.
The data center could generate $7.6 million in tax revenue annually for Mason, a huge boost to the city’s current annual tax capture of $4.3 million.
City officials tried to negotiate a conditional land transfer agreement with the township earlier this year that would have allowed the township to share in tax revenue, to the tune of at least $1 million per year, but township officials unanimously declined to enter into negotiations for such an agreement.
The city is currently reviewing whether it has the legal authority to reject the land if the annexation is approved.
Even if the annexation is approved, it could still be months before any development takes shape. The land would first have to be rezoned before a data center could be officially proposed for the site. That proposal would then have to go through the site plan review process.
But that hasn’t stopped months of public outcry at Mason City Council meetings by community members organizing against potential data centers. The meetings have frequently been disrupted by shouting, laughter and groaning from audience members, many wearing matching red hats reading “no data centers in Mason.”
Mason Mayor Russell Whipple said city officials have limited power at this point in the process, with no proposals or requests before the city.
“This is the wrong fight at the wrong time. We have nothing before us to say no to,” Whipple said while responding to questions submitted by audience members during a town hall at the start of Monday night’s City Council meeting.
The city is working on a complete rewrite of its zoning ordinance, which some City Council members say is outdated and has become increasingly complicated over time.
That rewrite could include stricter regulations for data centers than is included in the current code, including noise and light emissions.
“All we can do now is prepare for the possibility for the possibility that we have to say yes, and that’s what we are trying to do,” Whipple said.
City officials had passed a zoning change to address many of the concerns raised by community members earlier this year.
But the ordinance was later repealed after community members organized a referendum, fearing that a zoning district tailored to data centers could make the city more inviting to potential developments and arguing the regulations were not strict enough. City officials have said that having regulations so strict they could be considered exclusionary zoning would be illegal under state law.
That means data center developments would fall under the next closest use, which for Mason would currently be a “general manufacturing district,” typically intended for low-intensity industrial uses like warehouses or offices.
Whipple said he is open to making data centers a special use, rather than a use by right, but said stronger zoning is still needed because it serves as the baseline from which any additional requirements would be built.
“You need to have a good bedrock set of standards to start with,” Whipple said. “You don’t want it to be an increase in our current M2 general industrial standards.”
Whipple said he will advocate for holding a series of workshops and joint meetings between the planning commission and City Council once the draft ordinance, which is being written by a subcommittee, is introduced.
Whipple said he hopes to have the new zoning ordinance in place by the end of the year.
