Cloverleaf campus (OpenAI / Oracle "Stargate")

The $15 billion megaproject proceeded, but in April 2026 Port Washington voters passed what was widely described as the nation's first anti-data-center referendum — requiring voter approval for future tax-incentive districts over $10 million, by roughly a two-to-one margin. The measure doesn't affect the existing project; business groups have filed a legal challenge to strike it down. Update (Sept 2026): a county judge dismissed residents’ challenge to the project’s $175M infrastructure subsidy; a ruling on the business groups’ challenge to the referendum ordinance is expected in October (Urban Milwaukee). Update (Oct 2026): on October 19 the judge upheld the voter-approval ordinance, finding the business groups showed no sufficient injury; separately, the Sierra Club settled its permit suit against the state DNR, which will conduct a statewide review of AI data centers' environmental impacts — paid for by Vantage — by January 2028 (FOX6 · WPR).