Monroe County officials rejected new data center. Now they’re being sued over it

Property owners who tried to put a data center in Bolingbroke are suing Monroe County, alleging the county’s zoning policies are illegal and their request was wrongfully denied after the Monroe County Board of Commissioners unanimously voted against the project last month.

The property owners — Otis Ingram, Holly Doss and Haley Newnam — proposed rezoning more than 900 acres from residential to commercial land in order to sell it to a tech company and place a data center on the land. The property owners did not have a buyer when the Monroe County Board of Commissioners voted against it on Aug. 4.

Residents took issue with the project, with hundreds of people showing up to local meetings to protest it and citing issues ranging from environmental concerns to wanting to preserve Bolingbroke’s small-town charm.

The lawsuit, which was filed in Monroe County Superior Court Wednesday, alleges the county improperly denied the property owners’ proposal.

The property owners argue that Monroe County changed the unified development ordinance — which governs how different types of properties may be used — in November 2024 to allow data centers on certain commercial properties at the behest of another property owner seeking to rezone and build a data center off Rumble Road.

The Rumble Road data center project was unanimously approved by the Monroe County Board of Commissioners at the same meeting.

The property owners said in the lawsuit their proposed data center met the requirements established in the updated unified development ordinance, but was denied after a lack of “substantive discussion” prior to the vote. They allege this constituted a violation of their right to equal protection under the law.

“There is no rational basis for the County to have approved the Rumble Road Data Center while denying Plaintiffs’ request,” the suit states.

The property owners also said the amount of community opposition shouldn’t be a factor when determining whether or not to rezone land for projects.

“The standards governing rezoning in the County do not lawfully and should not include the level of opposition to the request as a factor,” the lawsuit says.

However, the suit goes further, alleging that Monroe County’s zoning policies were not properly passed into law.

Prior to the edits made to the unified development ordinance in November 2024, Monroe County adopted its most recent version of the ordinance in 2023.

According to the suit, the Monroe County Board of Commissioners did not follow procedure when adopting the new ordinance as specified in Georgia’s Zoning Procedure Law because the new policy didn’t include policies and procedures on how public hearings work.

The property owners also argue the county is required to present copies of the unified development ordinance during meetings and hearing, which didn’t happen when they voted on the proposed Bolingbroke data center.

If a judge agrees with the property owners that the ordinances aren’t valid, it could have repercussions that go far beyond the Bolingbroke data center, and may bring other disputes with the county’s zoning codes.

A trial date for the lawsuit has not yet been set, and the county has not responded to the lawsuit.