A controversial proposal to annex more than 1,200 acres of land west of Roundtop Road and adjacent to Happy Jack Road for a data centerwas postponed for five months Monday by the Cheyenne City Council.
The annexation comes at a time when devleopment of data centers in and around Cheyenne is accelerating, along with some residents pushing back on them.
The proposed annexation tabled monday was brought forward by the William S. Cox Foundation, which owns about 1,260 acres. It would be the first of several steps necessary for a proposed data center to be built on the site.
News that a developer had already begun the process of buying land to build a data center surfaced April 20 at the Cheyenne Public Services Committee meeting.
The property owner requested the land be annexed so it can be connected to city water and sewer services. If the annexation is approved, the land would also have to be rezoned for business park use if a data center is to go on it.
The council unanimously agreed to postpone the annexation decision until its September 14 meeting, but not before geting an earful from a packed room of residents, most opposing the proposal.
Purchase-Sale Agreement In Process
The council heard more than two hours of public testimony, with most opposing the proposed data center.
Conner Nicklas, an attorney with Falen Law Offices representing the William S. Cox Trust, told the council the landowner intends to sell and develop the land to fund the Cox Family Foundation.
The foundation exists to support Wyoming interests, including Future Farmers of America (FFA) and agriculture, Nicklas said.
“Developing the land allows us to fund the foundation,” he told the council.
He confirmed that the landowner had entered into a purchase-sale agreement with ViaWest Group, a real estate agency based in Phoenix, Arizona, that intends to develop the land.
The purchase is not yet completed, he added.
Councilwoman Dr. Michelle Aldrich asked for clarification between the land’s former owners and the current owner, who share a last name but are of no relation.
“I think there’s been a lot of confusion,” Aldrich said.
Nicklas clarified the current owner is the William S. Cox Foundation. The former owners are Mark T. Cox IV and Beverly Cox Black.
Councilman Mark Moody asked if the goal of the trust was to support FFA and agriculture, why not sell to a buyer with agriculture-related interests rather than a real estate company intent on building a data center.
Nicklas responded that the landowner is trying to develop the land as best as it sees fit.
“The long and short of it is, this is an opportunity the foundation saw as a benefit that allows them to fund the goals they have,” he said.
Councilman Wolfe asked whether the purchase agreement was contingent upon the annexation being approved.
Nicklas said it was.
Members of the Cheyenne Public Service Committee voted 2-1 against annexing the land with the intent of rezoning it for use as a business park at the April 20 Public Services Committee. Councilman Mark Rinne was the only yes vote.
Several residents who spoke at Monday’s council meeting, as well as councilman Larry Wolfe, questioned why the public was not made aware of the proposed data center sooner.
Public Comment
Dozens of city and county residents spoke against the proposed data center, addressing concerns that including increased traffic, water usage, electricity demand, light pollution and long-term health effects.
Laramie County resident Thomas White asked the council how many data centers Cheyenne plans to have overall.
“I’m Native American,” White said. “I love the land. And the land that we have in Wyoming, a lot of it is getting destroyed.”
City resident Sue Rocha questioned what the specific purpose of the William T. Cox Foundation is and why it had to be funded through the sale of the property.
“To me it looks like a quick way to make a nice big buck,” she said.
Aldrich asked Brad Emmons, who spoke on behalf of the trust, why it was necessary to annex the property and rezone it as a business park when other business parks with available space in the city could house ViaWest’s proposed data center.
Wolfe asked Emmons, “So you’re working hand-in-hand with ViaWest, is that right?”
Emmons replied, “ViaWest has been directing some of the annexation. The trust would not be submitting for annexation without ViaWest.”
City resident Richard Lyle brought up the national push by Vermont independent U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-New York, to stop data center construction across the U.S.
The pair announced a data center moratorium act in March, legislation that would require “reasonable pause to the development of AI to ensure the safety of humanity,” according to a statement on Sanders’ senate website.
Back Up A Minute
Rick Kessler, a resident of Rolling Hills Estates which sits adjacent to the ranchland in question, referred to the council’s agenda, noting the item in question was about a decision to annex land, not about whether to put a data center on the land.
For a data center to go on the land, it would first have to be annexed and rezoned for a business park.
“With all due respect, I think this train has run off its track,” he told the council. "Item 11 is about annexation, and it has turned into a data center discussion.”
Mayor Patrick Collins said he would appreciate if comments focused on the proposed annexation rather than a potential data center buildout, but the public comments against the proposed data center continued.
Mark Eisele of the King Ranch, a neighbor to the Cox ranch, told the council his ranch couldn’t take any more hits with annexing.
He called a prior annexation on the eastern edge of his property an “unfair land-grab,” and said that despite getting squezed, "Our ranch isn’t going anywhere.”
Two generations are coming in behind him that will continue the King Ranch tradition, he said.
“You guys all rely on cows.” he said. “You don’t even know it.”
Eisle touted the many ways cows benefit society, saying that, “It’s more than just hamburgers and steaks.”
Gay Woodhouse, former Wyoming attorney general and an attorney for the land’s former owners, said her primary concern with the potential re-zoning and data center is the fate of a family-owned mausoleum on the property.
“We need something in place that will protect the mausoleum,” she told the council on Monday.
Woodhouse said she had received positive responses from the developer and planned to meet with developers later this week.
Jack O’Neill, who spoke on behalf of Skybox, the Texas-based data center development company partnering with ViaWest, called for a pause on the decision to annex so that ViaWest and Skybox could more thoroughly engage with the community and help the seller and the previous landowners come to a resolution.
However, O’Neill spoke strongly in favor of the proposed data center.
“The Chinese build about one coal plant a week,” he said. “We will lose the AI race if we do not do it responsibly in the free world. We need to do it and decide how to legislate it later.”
He added that an environmental study will be completed by next Wednesday.
City Plan?
Sam Galeotos, who owns land adjacent and to the west of the proposed annexation, questioned where data centers fit with the city’s growth plan, called PlanCheyenne.
The city plan is supposed to be updated every five years. It was last updated in 2014, said Councilman Wolfe.
“It almost seems negligent to me that there hasn’t been update on PlanCheyenne,” Galeotos said.
Mayor Collins responded that the council has budgeted between $250,000 and $300,000 this year to begin updating that plan.
“We are working on that right now,” he said.
“With all due respect, it was due in five years,” Galeotos parried. "That would have been 2019.”
“I wasn’t here then, but I am now and we’re working on it,” Collins replied.
“Well, you were here in ’20, ’21, ’22, ’23,” Galeotos said. “And why is the process not being followed?”
Collins said, “I can’t answer that question. I don’t know.”
The council will revisit the proposed annexation, along with a subsequent rezoning to a business park, on Sept. 14.
Kate Meadows can be reached at kate@cowboystatedaily.com.
