Wisconsin Judge Dismisses Chamber Lawsuit, Upholds Port Washington Data Center Referendum Ordinance
In Wisconsin, Ozaukee County Circuit Court Judge Adam Gerol on October 19 issued an oral ruling lasting over an hour, dismissing a lawsuit by business and trade groups challenging a City of Port Washington ordinance that requires public referendums on large new tax incentives, including those for data centers. The ordinance will stand.
The plaintiffs, including the Metropolitan Milwaukee Association of Commerce, argued the ordinance conflicted with state law, was too vague, and would slow development. Judge Gerol concluded the groups had not demonstrated actual or sufficiently imminent injury, and, addressing the merits, found the ordinance consistent with state law and not vague enough to be uninterpretable, saying it merely supplements the approval process outlined in state statutes with a referendum.
The ordinance was proposed by the grassroots group Great Lakes Neighbors United in response to a $15 billion super intelligence data center campus in Port Washington, developed by Vantage Data Centers, Oracle, and OpenAI, and its $458 million in local tax incentives. City voters approved the ordinance in an April 2026 referendum, the first time any U.S. municipality took up a ballot initiative aimed at data center development. After the ruling, the Metropolitan Milwaukee Association of Commerce said it was disappointed and that further examination in higher courts is warranted, while Great Lakes Neighbors United spokesperson Christine Le Jeune called it a win for every voter in Port Washington and across the state. Earlier the same day, environmental groups announced a settlement in a separate lawsuit over the project's environmental review: the permits remain in place, but Vantage will pay for a broader state examination of the effects of data center development across Wisconsin. (GSM, based on the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel)
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: Wikimedia Commons，公有领域（Public Domain）（Port Washington 灯塔黄昏实景）
