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“Not a Specific Project”: Columbus Responds to the Overlay Lawsuit
Project Ruby · Analysis The city of Columbus issued a statement Tuesday responding to the lawsuit filed by eight Upatoi residents challenging the Technology Overlay Ordinance. The statement runs four sentences. Three of them describe the process. One of them does all the legal work. “This protective overlay is not an approval of a zoning application for any particular project.” That sentence is the defense. Everything else in the statement — the hours-long hearings, the multiple Council meetings, the promise of vigorous defense — depends on it being true. If the overlay is general legislation, the city’s process argument has…
Eight Upatoi Residents Sue Columbus Over Technology Overlay
Project Ruby · Lawsuit The legal challenge Columbus residents threatened came Monday. Four days after Mayor Skip Henderson signed the technology overlay ordinance into law, eight Upatoi landowners and Keep It Rural LLC filed suit in Muscogee County Superior Court. The case number is SU2026CV001406. Attorney Jonathan Waters represents the plaintiffs: Stacie Mailey, Debbie Jackson, Charles McClure, Jeremy Gibson, Jordan Kempson, Robert Landi, Wayne Gasser and Debra Jarzomkowski. All live on or near the 865-acre Layfield Road site proposed for Project Ruby, the $5.18 billion hyperscale data center. The lawsuit does not challenge whether data centers are good or bad.…
What Columbus Walks Into Next
Project Ruby: The Explainer SeriesPart 4 of 4 Author’s note: The author submitted an alternative ordinance — The People’s Overlay — to all Columbus City Council members, the city attorney, and the mayor before the June 9, 2026 public hearing, and spoke at that hearing. 706Report.com has covered Project Ruby since its February announcement. Prior coverage is linked throughout this series. On the morning of June 9, 2026, the Columbus City Council did two things at the same time. While hundreds of residents stood at the microphone talking about noise and PFAS and 987 acres and what a 600-megawatt load…
What the Ordinance Actually Requires
Project Ruby: The Explainer SeriesPart 3 of 4 Author’s note: The author submitted an alternative ordinance — The People’s Overlay — to all Columbus City Council members, the city attorney, and the mayor before the June 9, 2026 public hearing, and spoke at that hearing. 706Report.com has covered Project Ruby since its February announcement. Prior coverage is linked throughout this series. The council voted. The ordinance passed. Now what? Most people who followed the Project Ruby debate paid attention to the public hearings. Fewer will read the ordinance itself. But in this case it’s worth it because what the document…