Columbus fires back in zoning lawsuit over overlay district
The City of Columbus, Georgia, has filed a 400-page legal response to a lawsuit brought by Keep It Rural Muscogee County. The lawsuit challenges a recently adopted overlay district, which the group claims violates zoning procedures and due process rights. The city argues the overlay district does not rezone any property or authorize data center construction.
The City of Columbus, Georgia, has formally responded to a lawsuit initiated by the advocacy group Keep It Rural Muscogee County, defending its recently adopted overlay district. The 400-page legal document asserts that the zoning measure does not constitute rezoning of any specific property or grant immediate authorization for data center construction.
Keep It Rural Muscogee County filed the lawsuit last month, alleging that the city council-approved overlay district infringes upon state and local zoning procedures and violates due process rights under state, local, and federal laws. The city maintains that the overlay district merely establishes a regulatory framework that would only apply if a developer submits a specific application, noting that no such application for a data center has yet been filed or approved.
The city's legal response outlines 15 defenses, emphasizing that the district does not greenlight any single data center or alter existing property zoning. Both parties are seeking a declaratory judgment, which will result in a judge's ruling or the scheduling of a hearing date.