Bessemer data center developer to request rezoning for additional 900 acres

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This article originally appeared on Inside Climate News, a nonprofit, independent news organization that covers climate, energy and the environment. It is republished with permission. Sign up for their newsletter here. 

By Lee Hedgepeth, Inside Climate News

BESSEMER, Ala.—Logistic Land Investment LLC, the developer behind Project Marvel, a $14.5 billion proposed data center project in central Alabama, will request the rezoning of an additional 900 acres of land from agricultural to light industrial use, according to a Bessemer city council member. 

Cleo King, who represents District 7, said in an interview Wednesday that city attorney Aaron Killings informed the city council at Tuesday’s meeting about the request. Killings said the newly rezoned land would allow the developer to assuage concerns over a possible conflict with the Northern Beltline, a road project that may impact the project site.

In November, a majority of the Bessemer City Council approved the rezoning of nearly 700 acres of agricultural land in the city, which is located just southwest of Birmingham.

Logistic Land Investment is owned by TPA Group, an Atlanta-based developer.

Residents who live near the proposed data center site have been nearly universally opposed to the project, which if built to full capacity would include 18 buildings the size of Walmart Supercenters and consume a massive amount of water and electricity.

King said that he is wary of the project and its impacts; he was one of two council members to vote against the previous rezoning. 

“I continue to be skeptical of this process,” he said. 

King said that instead of pushing through rezoning proposals without engaging meaningfully with residents, Bessemer should be taking a more thoughtful, measured approach to vetting Project Marvel. He pointed to Birmingham, which is considering a moratorium on data center development, as a better example of how local governments should approach the issue. 

“Birmingham officials are doing their due diligence,” he said. “I think that’s something that we should have done as well.”

Mary Rosenboom, a resident who lives near the proposed data center site, said that any attempt by the developer to acquire and rezone additional land is deeply troubling. 

“It terrifies me about what will come,” she said. “These developers have no regard for the people who live here.”

Residents like Rosenboom have opposed Project Marvel from its inception, arguing that the construction and operation of a hyperscale data center would be detrimental to their quiet enjoyment of their homes and lead to significant economic and environmental problems. 

“All this does is put money in big tech’s pockets at the expense of the people,” she said. “I think this is something where every resident needs to standing up and screaming ‘No, no, no.’”

In November, the Alabama Department of Transportation wrote to the project developers to express concern over a potential conflict between the siting of Project Marvel and the eventual construction of the Northern Beltline, a $5 billion road project some have described as a “road to nowhere.”

Developers quickly said they’d do whatever was necessary to avoid any conflict with the beltline project, which has been repeatedly lauded by political insiders like Sen. Katie Britt, who previously served as chief of staff for Sen. Richard Shelby, a longtime supporter of the Northern Beltline. 

At Tuesday’s meeting, Killings also suggested that the rezoning of additional land would provide the developer the opportunity to avoid some of the potential environmental impacts of the project. 

Rosenboom said that argument doesn’t fly with her. Developers have previously said the data center’s construction would cause no environmental impacts, though experts have disagreed. 

“If there’s no environmental impact, how would this newly rezoned land mitigate an impact that doesn’t exist?” Rosenboom asked. “It doesn’t make any sense.” 

Charles Miller, policy director for the Alabama Rivers Alliance, an environmental nonprofit that’s followed the evolution of Project Marvel closely, said Wednesday that the organization will continue to support residents however it can. 

“We will continue to help the residents of Red Mountain Heights and Rock Mountain Lakes get answers about this misguided and ill-considered proposal,” Miller said. “Now that the proposed footprint of this project has apparently doubled overnight, without advance warning or public notice, it is even more critical for the Bessemer City Council and TPA Group to respond to residents’ concerns.”

Representatives of Logistic Land Investment did not respond to a request for comment. 

Inside Climate News has requested a copy of the entity’s new application for rezoning from city officials but has not yet heard back.