Tyler and Wendy Chambers, a couple from Chelan County, Washington, allege they are victims of a conspiracy involving Microsoft as they attempt to develop their 66-acre family property. After investing nearly $300,000 in studies and meeting regulatory requirements, they were informed that 44.2 acres of their land must be permanently set aside before they can proceed with construction. The couple’s situation raises questions about land use regulations and the influence of large tech companies on local development.
The couple and their real estate broker, Jeff Hallman, have questioned why the requirements applied to their property while Microsoft built a data centre about 10 miles away, according to a report by AG Web. They point to a Microsoft project roughly 10 miles away and claim the company moved substantially more earth while being asked to set aside less land. “About 10 miles away, Microsoft is building a data center. Microsoft has moved 500,000 cubic yards of dirt. Tyler’s guessed amount of 1,000 is 1/500th of that—like $2 on a $1,000 bill.
These included assessments involving stormwater, spotted owls, golden eagles, deer, shrubsteppe, geotechnical conditions and mitigation, according to Chambers. Hallman specifically compares the amount of earthmoving involved in the two projects. However, the claims come from Chambers and Hallman, who have criticised the county and state over the property dispute. Chambers and Hallman allege that the requirement was inconsistent with how a nearby Microsoft data centre project was treated. These comparisons are allegations by Chambers and Hallman; the material provided does not independently establish that Microsoft received preferential treatment or that the two cases were connected. So how much land was Microsoft asked to set aside? Substantially less than Tyler. Still think conspiracies aren’t real?” he claimed.