Overview
- Roughly three‑quarters of Harwood voters rejected a Home Rule Charter amendment that would have required independent reviews and public hearings for large industrial projects, making it the lone result favoring data‑center development among about 45 such measures this election cycle.
- The vote removes a hurdle for a 160‑acre Applied Digital campus, with Oracle named as the end user, that developers say will begin operations next year and could expand on as much as 900 acres.
- A grassroots group led by Michael Swartz pressed the measure after residents said they only learned of construction plans late and after local officials signed nondisclosure agreements with the developer; opponents warned the ballot language changed from the original petition and raised noise and school‑proximity concerns.
- Town leaders and the local chamber campaigned against the amendment, arguing it would add administrative costs and risk losing projects and tax revenue; Harwood’s mayor has estimated the data center could bring about $1.65 million in local taxes by 2028 and the project may use state sales‑tax incentives on equipment.
- Harwood’s result stands out against a growing national push for moratoriums and tighter rules on data centers, highlighting how local economic calculations can produce starkly different outcomes and potentially shape how developers pitch projects to small towns.