Lawsuit alleges DeSoto County violated zoning rules in data center approval
A former DeSoto County Commissioner has filed a lawsuit against DeSoto County, Florida, to halt a data center development. The lawsuit alleges that the county violated zoning rules and did not provide proper legal notice during the project's approval in March. This legal action follows the county's enactment of a one-year moratorium on data centers, though the project in question is exempt.
Former DeSoto County Commissioner John Johnson has filed a lawsuit against DeSoto County, Florida, seeking to prevent the development of a data center on Northeast Rowan Street. Johnson claims the county commission "kind of wandered off course substantially" and violated several rules when it approved the data center plan in March.
The lawsuit alleges that the county failed to provide proper legal notice to residents and ignored rules pertaining to power plants, further claiming the proposed data center location is not suitable and would negatively impact too many people. Johnson hopes a judge will review the legality of the county's approval.
This legal challenge comes weeks after DeSoto County Commissioners approved a one-year moratorium on data center developments. However, the project targeted by Johnson's lawsuit is exempt from the moratorium because it was approved before the ban was enacted. The county has yet to comment on the pending lawsuit.