Ottawa KS proposed data center ban ballot initiative (2026)

City of Ottawa, Kan. (Franklin County) — citizen ballot initiative placed on the NOVEMBER 2026 BALLOT by court order; proposes a PERMANENT BAN on DATA CENTERS drawing MORE THAN 25 MW within Ottawa city limits. INSTRUMENT STATUS: PROPOSED only — the measure has not been adopted; voter approval is required. THRESHOLD: 25 MEGAWATTS draw. This threshold is explicitly set to capture hyperscale and large-scale AI compute facilities, which typically draw 50–300 MW, while potentially excluding smaller colocation and edge facilities. AS A PERMANENT BAN (if approved): this would be one of the stronger local data center prohibitions in the dataset — a permanent city-level ban by voter initiative rather than a time-limited moratorium enacted by a council. THE COURT-ORDERED BALLOT CONTEXT: the reported mechanism is a court ordering the city to place the measure on the ballot, suggesting a prior city council refusal to place the initiative and a subsequent court order compelling placement. RELATIONSHIP TO FRANKLIN COUNTY MORATORIUM: the companion county measure (Franklin County KS data center moratorium (2026)) covers unincorporated Franklin County through December 31, 2028. If the Ottawa ballot measure passes, the city and county together would cover substantially all of Franklin County for data center restrictions — city limits by permanent ban, unincorporated areas by moratorium. STATUS MUST BE CHECKED after November 2026 election results.