Wake Up Jeffco, others sue Festus, developer to stop data center

A lawsuit was filed on April 8 in St. Louis County Circuit Court by the data center opposition group Wake Up Jeffco LLC, along with several property owners (Sherman Doyle, Vernon Valish, Sharon Valish, and Rozilyn Daniels). The suit targets the City of Festus, Missouri, and CRG Acquisition LLC, a St. Louis-based data center developer and a division of Clayco. The plaintiffs seek to stop CRG's proposed data center project, planned for property north of Hwy. 67 and west of Hwy. CC in Festus. Their lawsuit aims to invalidate a March 30, 2026, Festus City Council decision to approve an infrastructure development agreement, which passed with a 6-2 vote. It also challenges the City Council's November 27, 2025, vote to rezone property for the development. Opponents have raised concerns about how Festus officials engaged with CRG prior to official city meetings, suggesting actions were taken to bypass Missouri's Sunshine Law. The lawsuit requests a fine of $5,000 for each city action found to be in violation of this law. While no hearings or trials have been scheduled, the case has been assigned to Judge Ellen W. Dunne.