SPRING HILL, Kan. — People who live in Spring Hill are pushing back against a rezoning plan that they say opens the door to a possible data center and to a change in their way of life.
Neighbors are concerned about noise pollution, traffic, property values and proximity to a nearby school.
Along 191st Street in Spring Hill, neighbors posted signs in their yards that say, “No industrial zoning.”
“This is my property and this is where they want to put the data center,” Erin Lustig said. “This is just not what we moved out here for. We moved out here to get away from the city, to have peace and quiet.”
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Lustig moved here more than five years ago.
Her family also built a barn and baseball field in their backyard. She said a potential data center is now threatening this “field of dreams.”
“The noise, I’ve heard water concerns, electricity concerns,” Lustig said. “The value of our home will exponentially go down, and we will never be able to get out, and I don’t want to live behind that.”
The city told FOX4 it received a request to rezone about 316 acres at the southeast corner of 191st Street and Renner Road, from R-R, Rural Residential, to M-1, General Industrial.
The property was annexed in December 2025, and no specific business or end user has been identified at this time.
The city said the property was annexed in December, and no specific businesses or end use have been identified at this time.
In October of 2025, the city council approved changing city codes related to data centers.
“Staff felt it was appropriate to bring you this change to open the door for consideration of the right data centers going forward,” City Attorney Spencer Low said.
Dennis Caldwell said this proposed industrial rezoning opens the door to all kinds of businesses that neighbors like him don’t want.
“The most concerning one to me would be industrial facilities, the mines, fuel storage, the data centers, the adult entertainment,” Caldwell said. “Because there’s a high school and school a half mile and mile that way, and that’s something you don’t want around your kids.”
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Neighbors said about 45 people were originally notified about the proposed rezoning and about 300 homes would be impacted.
Mike Engeman shared a map, noting Spring Hill High School is ¾ of a mile from the proposed rezoning. He said the elementary and middle schools are about a mile away.
“Farmers in between have already been approached for further development of this property,” Engeman said. “So, they’re getting closer to our schools if they expand at all.”
The city wrote in a statement, “Community input is an important part of the City’s process, and residents are encouraged to attend, learn more about the proposed rezoning, and share their questions or feedback.”
A public hearing before the Planning Commission on the requested rezoning is scheduled for March 5 at 7 p.m. at the Spring Hill Civic Center.
Many of these neighbors tell me they plan to attend and share their concerns.
