Fort Meade residents have filed a lawsuit against the city for approving a development agreement for a hyperscale data center.
Two leaders of the grassroots group Watchdogs of Fort Meade, George McNerney and Raul Alfonso, were joined by plaintiffs Michael Bennett, Michele McLaughlin-Raney and Katelyn McDaniel in filing a civil lawsuit for negligence against the City of Fort Meade on May 14 in Polk County courts.
The residents are seeking to have the court issue a writ of certiorari, a demand for a higher court to review the Fort Meade City Commission’s unanimous approval of a 20-year development agreement with Stonebridge, a Maryland-based company seeking to build a 4.4-million-square-foot data center.
“Most importantly, though, there is no competent substantial evidence of record and/or submitted that supports that the Proposed Industrial Data Center Development is, Inter alia, compatible with the surrounding area within which the residents reside and/or own property…” reads the court filing.
Lakeland attorney A. Brent Geohagan argues on behalf of the Fort Meade residents that the city did not follow the review process required by Florida law.
In the lawsuit, residents are asserting the city did not follow the requirements of the Florida Smart Growth Management Act. Under this state law, municipalities are supposed to evaluate whether proposed developments, such as the data center, are consistent with the city’s Comprehensive Plan and Land Development Code.
The Ledger reached out to Fort Meade City manager Troy Bell on June 22 about the lawsuit, with no response by the afternoon of June 23.
Fort Meade residents have attempted to obtain a copy of the development agreement under Florida’s Sunshine Law, according to the lawsuit, but have not been successful.
The lawsuit asks the courts to terminate the development agreement between Fort Meade and Stonebridge.
Lawsuit intensifies calls for review
The lawsuit is the first legal challenge of the data center’s approval, but state officials and activist groups have been vocal in asking Fort Meade voluntarily to reconsider their vote.
Florida Commerce Secretary J. Alex Kelly has described the planning of the proposed Fort Meade Data Center as “fundamentally flawed.” Kelly’s letter to Mayor Jaret Landon Williams suggested the city’s process had not been transparent.
Christina Reichert, a senior attorney with Earthjustice, sent a 15-page letter to Fort Meade commissioners asking the city to reconsider its approval in late April.
On May 7,, Gov. Ron DeSantis described the proposed hyperscale data center as “not viable” stating the developer had not fully thought through the issues.
Two Fort Meade commissioners responded to DeSantis’ remarks. Commissioner Jim Watts made succinct remarks about the right of “home rule,” which allows local governments to make their own decisions.
“Well, we’ll have to go through the process of permitting,” Fort Meade Commissioner Matthew Taylor said. “And politics are going to be politics. It may never come to fruition, but we had to allow the development agreement to be authorized as written, and if it doesn’t come to fruition, we’ll work on other aspects of getting businesses into Fort Meade.”
This article originally appeared on The Ledger: Fort Meade residents sue city to block hyperscale data center deal
Reporting by Sara-Megan Walsh, Lakeland Ledger / The Ledger
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Sara-Megan Walsh, Lakeland Ledger | USA TODAY Network
