On Oct. 20, I attended a farce of a hearing at the Utah County Planning Commission, as one of dozens of local protesters standing up against rampant data center development. The commission believes they can pass whatever they like under our noses, and never has this disdain been clearer than at this meeting.
The commission was to discuss a controversial “overlay” that would allow anyone hoping to build a data center to run roughshod over rural Utah County’s industrial and grazing lands, as Item B. Item A took over two hours to discuss. I believe these men wanted as many of us as possible to grow tired and leave. Sure enough, by the time a five minute break was announced, we had fewer in attendance than at the onset. To add insult to injury, once most everyone had filed out, we were not allowed the full five minutes before they launched immediately into Item B. By the time citizens began to file back in, they were well underway.
Item A had a third party presenter making their case, given ten minutes to speak, then the floor opened to the audience. The data center decision got no such grace. Instead, we got a lecture; they spoke down to us and explained why we were wrong, and why they were making the decision they’d clearly already made. At one point, a protester was hauled out by police and slammed onto the ground. They did not want the public at this public hearing.
Ending taxation without representation was a founding principle of the United States. How, then, can our government acknowledge that most comments they’ve received demand a moratorium on data center development, and yet move forward with their own self interests? They know the public doesn’t want this. They couldn’t care less.
Erika Gritton, Orem