"The current lawsuit is a premature attempt at blocking a perceived and hypothetical, future data center." That line comes from an August 7 court motion filed for Mayor Skip Henderson and the 10 Columbus councilors. The Ledger-Enquirer reported it as the city's main defense against Keep It Rural LLC and eight Upatoi landowners.

In that same filing, the city's lawyers wrote that the technology overlay ordinance "does not rezone anything or approve any data center." In their words it is a process for a future application. By the city's own account, the 865 acres of northeast Muscogee County that Choose Columbus calls the Project Ruby site have not been rezoned for a data center. The public hearings that would decide whether that happens are still ahead.

What the June 16 Vote Actually Created

Columbus Council adopted the technology overlay ordinance 6–2 on June 16, 2026. It amends the city's Unified Development Ordinance to create Technology Overlay Districts and lists the underlying zoning districts where an overlay is permitted. At that meeting, councilors said no data center applications had been filed. The Ledger-Enquirer reported that a parcel-specific rezoning request for Project Ruby had not been submitted.

The project behind the ordinance is large. In February 2026, Choose Columbus announced that the Development Authority of Columbus was working with Habitat Partners on a site for a data center operator. The announcement projected more than $5.18 billion in investment between 2027 and 2030 and 195 jobs paying $80,000 to $120,000. A site map reported by GPB in May puts four proposed buildings on the eastern side of the 865 acres, next to high-voltage lines and a substation, west of Midland and north of US 80/Macon Road. The mapped campus covers about 15% of the site.

The ordinance spells out how a technology overlay gets placed on any specific piece of land. Subsection P reads:

"Application of the Technology Overlay District to any specific parcel shall require: (a) submission of a complete application including a site plan and the studies required under subsections (E), (L), and (M); (b) posting of the property and written notification to all property owners within three hundred (300) feet of the subject property... (c) a public hearing before the Planning Advisory Commission; and (d) two readings before the Columbus Council, with the first reading constituting a public hearing."

Choose Columbus describes the next step the same way. The company applies for the overlay on the site, and that application is the actual rezoning request.

The Sequence, and Where Each Step Stands in Early October

Every step below comes from the ordinance text. The status of each is based on public records reviewed as of October 4, 2026.

1. A complete overlay application for the Project Ruby parcels. It must include a site plan and the required buffer, sound, and utility studies. The Ledger-Enquirer reported in June that no Project Ruby rezoning request had been submitted. The October agendas below had not been posted when this was written, so whether a filing has come in since June can't be confirmed from them.
2. A posted sign on the property and letters to nearby owners. Owners within 300 feet get written notice, or within a wider radius if the Planning Advisory Commission sets one. This step can't start until an application exists.
3. A public hearing at the Planning Advisory Commission. The commission's calendar lists October 7 and October 21 as its next meetings, with no agenda posted for October 7 when reviewed.
4. Two readings before Columbus Council, with a public hearing at the first. Council has meetings listed for October 13 and October 27, but their agenda links were blank when reviewed.
5. Utility availability letters. Each utility the developer wants to use must issue a letter after a system impact study. The ordinance names electric, water, sewer, gas, and telecommunications.
6. A development agreement the city accepts. It must be signed before any land-disturbance permit or certificate of occupancy. It covers infrastructure costs, utility service, noise, cooling, buffers, phasing, abandonment, and a decommissioning fund managed by the city.

A regional review may also apply. Choose Columbus has described the timing of the Development of Regional Impact review two ways. In June, the Ledger-Enquirer quoted its CEO calling it the first step before the overlay application. Choose Columbus's undated update page says it can run at the same time as the rezoning. The operator also hasn't been named. Choose Columbus says the end user is one of five large hyperscale companies and will be announced once a contract is signed.

Three Distances Written Into the Ordinance

Three distances in the ordinance decide who hears about the project and how close it can get to homes.

• 300 feet. The radius for mailed notice when an overlay application is filed, unless the Planning Advisory Commission widens it.
• 500 feet. The minimum vegetated visual buffer along property lines that border residential zoning.
• 1,000 feet. The radius of neighbors who must get 72 hours' notice before routine backup generator testing. Testing is limited to weekday daytime hours.

The mailed-notice radius is smaller than the required buffer. A homeowner 600 feet from a property line might not get a letter under the default rule. That same homeowner would still be inside the generator-testing notice zone once a campus is running. The Planning Advisory Commission's power to widen the notice radius is the one part of the process that can change who gets a letter.

The other limits are also specific. A qualifying campus needs at least 75 contiguous acres under common ownership or control, and assembling parcels without a replat doesn't count. Buildings are generally capped at 75 feet. Sound is measured at the property line over rolling 30-minute periods, and backup generators count toward the limit. Next to residential zoning, the cap is 65 dBA and 75 dBC by day and drops to 55 dBA and 65 dBC at night. Diesel backup generators are banned. Tier IV units are allowed, and so are Tier II units fitted with selective catalytic reduction. The Ledger-Enquirer reported that the diesel ban and the tighter noise limits were added before the final vote.

Water Is Left to the Development Agreement

When Upatoi residents spoke out in June, WTVM reported that their concerns were water use, utility costs, noise, and wildlife. Mayor Henderson said then that council was still listening and had not made a final decision on the facility.

The ordinance handles noise with specific numbers. Water is different. The text bans open-loop evaporative cooling, allows closed-loop and direct-to-chip systems, and bars certain PFAS-related compounds, HFCs, and PFCs from cooling fluids. It sets no numeric cap on water use. Instead, it requires the developer to follow Columbus Water Works rules, hold an industrial-user permit, and put its water and cooling commitments in the development agreement. Choose Columbus's undated update page estimates about 330,000 gallons per day at full buildout.

The utility's side came on September 22. Brittany Brossett, newly named interim president of Columbus Water Works, told WTVM the utility is "a little over a third of what our capacity is for our water withdrawal." She said it can serve new development "without any impacts to our current existing customers." In the same interview, she said the utility is also paying to replace its decades-old wastewater treatment plant and to meet new PFAS treatment requirements. She said it has to balance that spending with affordability for customers. The formal water answer for this site will come later, through the availability letter and the development agreement. Neither is required until after an application is filed.

The Lawsuit Runs on Its Own Schedule

Keep It Rural LLC and the eight landowners, who live on or next to land near the site, are challenging how the ordinance was passed. They are not suing over a specific project approval. At the September 9 hearing in the Columbus Government Center, Superior Court Judge John Martin heard from attorney Jonathan Waters for the plaintiffs and from James Clark and Thomas Gristina for the city.

The judge's main open question was whether the case needs a jury. "From where I sit, I'm not really sure what the jury can tell me that I didn't resolve myself as the finder of fact," Martin said. Waters argued that noise and water concerns would be appropriate for a jury. The Ledger-Enquirer reported that the judge set a discovery period, expected another hearing between Thanksgiving and Christmas, and expected a resolution by the end of the year. No ruling or new hearing had been reported as of early October.

The court case and the rezoning process are separate tracks. A ruling would decide whether the ordinance was adopted properly. Whether the overlay goes on the Project Ruby land would still depend on the hearings listed above.

Public Dates in October

The roundabout open house isn't part of Project Ruby. It's a separate road proposal for the same US 80 corridor that runs south of the site, and it falls on the same evening as a Council meeting. If a Project Ruby application is filed, the first public signs will be a posted sign on the property, letters to owners within the notice radius, and an item on a Planning Advisory Commission agenda.

If you own land or a home near the Project Ruby site and want to talk through how a pending rezoning could affect a sale, a purchase, or just your plans, Mia Manns is glad to go over the public record with you and keep you posted as these hearings come up. Let's Connect.