Data center opponents have filed a lawsuit aimed at halting a massive Midtown St. Louis project.
Earlier this summer, the Board of Adjustment rejected appeals challenging a conditional use permit for a proposed $3 billion data center near the Armory. That decision followed a hearing that included nearly 11 hours of public comment on the permit and proposed amendments to it.
In the suit filed Friday, a group of opponents contends the board "erred in deciding to deny the appeals and grant" the permit, saying the decision was made arbitrarily and "contrary to law."
The plaintiffs are asking the court to enter an order staying the action while the case moves through the legal process – and to reverse the board's decision.
Two of the plaintiffs in the case, Daniel Pate and Kerry McCullen, told St. Louis Public Radio on Saturday that they felt the appeals process was rushed.
"I think the negative health impacts and the negative environmental impacts were not studied, were not accounted for, were not properly taken into consideration by political appointees who were working on behalf of the mayor and the developer staff more than they were working on the behalf of residents," Pate said.
"These hyperscale data centers are not welcome in St. Louis, and the residents are going to continue to fight tooth and nail at every chance we get to stop them," McCullen said.
Pate said filing a lawsuit was "the last opportunity we have to force them to take an appropriate look at what is a massive proposal for something that could create harm for decades."
"The city is bending and twisting themselves into pretzels to try to get this thing through," Pate said. "We think that the court, when they look at the record, they'll see numerous procedural issues by the Board of Public Service, by the Board of Adjustment, and hopefully reverse it."
A spokeswoman for Mayor Cara Spencer said on Saturday that the city does not comment on pending legal matters.
St. Louis officials are developing guidelines for data centers. The Board of Aldermen advanced legislation on the topic on Friday.
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