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“The County first learned of the Stratos project in late March. By then, several private landowners had already signed real estate contracts with the developer, intervening defendant O’Leary Digital Utah Development Co., LLC (Developer). MIDA asked the County to consent to the private properties’ inclusion in the project area. The County confirmed that the landowners supported the project but postponed its vote whether to consent to allow time to gather additional information and seek public comment,” Barton Kunz II, the attorney for Box Elder County, wrote in their motion to dismiss.
“In April, the County hired a law firm to advise the County regarding its options. A significant issue was that the property within the project area was unzoned. That status materially limited the County’s ability to regulate land use in the area.”
Kunz also argued that lawmakers did not violate Utah’s Open and Public Meetings Act in their deliberations, nor did an op-ed in a local newspaper explaining their vote violate the law.
The responses to the lawsuit brought by the Box Elder County residents is standard in litigation. Judge Walsh has yet to schedule a hearing on the motions to dismiss, but it is expected to happen in the coming months.
O’Leary’s massive data center project near the Great Salt Lake has sparked significant protest and public pushback, largely over environmental concerns. Some of the public anger has been directed toward MIDA, a state entity that can push through development projects on a speedier timeline because some of its applications can benefit the military.
There are now several lawsuits against the data center project, including one filed against O’Leary and FOX News over comments he made suggesting some critics were acting on behalf of the Chinese government. The targets of those comments have sued, alleging defamation after O’Leary and FOX News walked back those remarks. (Although FOX 13 is a Fox television affiliate station, it is fully owned by the E.W. Scripps company with no ownership connection to Fox Corporation.)
Two of the county commissioners who approved the Stratos project lost their primaries against other challengers.