BOX ELDER COUNTY, Utah — As the state begins to review applications tied to the ’Stratos’ data center project, community members in Box Elder County are exploring their options to put the issue on the ballot.
Box Elder County officials tell FOX 13 News they handed out applications to hold referendums on each of the resolutions that were passed Monday by their county commission.
Box Elder County Clerk Marla Young says an application had been filed with their office earlier this week. But it was then withdrawn on Wednesday as the local group looks for more sponsors before moving forward.
There are still questions surrounding the legality of those referendums actually being held.
Once the application does reach her desk, Young says she and the county’s attorneys will need to determine where the project could be subject to a referendum.
County officials are looking into whether it could be a county-wide or a state-wide referendum, due to the involvement of the state authority, MIDA.
If it does get held in the county, Young says it would likely be a land-use referendum, which would bring different voting thresholds and different timelines than usual.
Utah Code shows that for a third-class county like Box Elder, a land use referendum would require signatures from 16% of all the county’s active voters…as well as 16% of voters in at least 75% of the county’s 'voter participation areas'.
Our partners at the Salt Lake Tribune report that this would mean the effort needs to gain roughly 5,400 signatures.
Amid what has already been a highly contentious week for the county, the clerk says this could mark another significant moment. If it does happen, she believes this may be the first county referendum held here in a decade or more.
Young says the sponsors have five business days after the resolution’s passage, which gives them until Monday, May 11, to file.
