The Frederick County Data Center Referendum Committee (DCRC) wants to limit data center development in Frederick. They oppose the county council’s creation of a 2,600 acre data center development zone. By collecting enough signatures, they hope to create a ballot question this fall.
Two days before Christmas, the council concluded a year-long process of creating a map, known as the Critical Digital Infrastructure Overlay Zone (CDI-OZ). The map was intended to limit the expansion of data centers to a single location north of Adamstown and prevent urban sprawl.
The council’s choice went against recommendations from residents and the planning commission to limit the borders of the CDI-OZ map to the county’s current data center campus. Known as Quantum Frederick (QF), the 1,600 acre campus sits on the site of a former aluminum smelting plant and already has some of the needed industrial infrastructure.
Prior to the map, all 5,000 acres of industrially zoned county land was available for data center development. Despite this, residents saw the 2,600 acre map as merely tacking 1,000 additional acres onto QF’s 1,600.
Public Outcry
Steve Black, DCRC member and president of the Sugar Loaf Alliance, is critical of the council’s decisions. He argues they added 1,000 acres onto QF when the campus isn’t even full yet.
Several developers are in the process of building data centers, with some companies like Amazon having shown interest in renting out spaces for themselves. Even so, much of the land is not accounted for yet. “We don’t know what the impacts are of the first sixteen-hundred acres, and blindly adding on another thousand acres seems like a very short sighted, misguided, unwise course of action for the council,” Black said.
Much of the 1,000 acres consists of farmland, with some of it being available for preservation. Council Member M.C. Keegan-Ayer argued in December the land owners had not chosen to put the land into preservation yet. “They do not align with the criteria of either [preservation] program, and it’s clearly not working the way it was intended in this particular area of the county,” Keegan-Ayer explained. “So let's get the money and use it elsewhere.”
Black believes the council made its decision without the proper analysis. He warns it may be easy to say the impacts will only be felt by those in Adamstown, but worries over the larger impact on county water and power demands. He alleges the overlay zone, when fully developed, will require four times the power of the city of Baltimore.
The Referendum Process
The power of referendum allows Maryland residents to petition for the veto of a law, and operates differently at the state and local level. Black said the DCRC collected the minimum 15,000 signatures as of Tuesday.
The law recommends organizations acquire 20%-30% more signatures than needed, due to a substantial number often being disqualified for various reasons. The signatures must then be reviewed before a final count can be announced.
Next Steps
If enough signatures are termed valid, a ballot question will be introduced this fall which will allow residents to vote on whether or not to keep the CDI-OZ. He pointed out there likely wouldn't be enough time for the current county council to establish a new map before the upcoming election.
Alternatively, if the referendum fails, Black says that’s the end of the line. Despite that, he is certain the train will keep on chugging. He believes all of the energy he has seen put into this process will transfer to the way people vote in the upcoming election.
No matter what decision the board of election makes, Black believes someone is going to be unhappy. He does not see a way forward without this being taken to court by one side or the other. “The developers and the data center industry have too much money that they can make to go quietly on this,” Black said. “And the people of Frederick County aren’t going to back down and roll over for out-of-state mega corporations.”
