Coastal Communities United v. City of Statesboro (Ga. 2026)
Coastal Communities United and Eleven Citizens v. City of Statesboro and 4 AM Development LLC (Ga. Super. Ct., Bulloch County 2026) — Petition Filed September 17, 2026 Asks the Court to VOID the City's 3-2 Rezoning of Nearly 27 Acres on Burkhalter Road From High-Density Residential to Office/Business for a Data Center, Pleading Spot Zoning, Inverse Condemnation and Threats to the Floridan Aquifer
Statesboro, GA · Coastal Communities United v. City of Statesboro (Ga. Super. Ct., Bulloch Cty., petition filed Sept. 17, 2026)
- Status
- Blocked / in litigation
- Applies to
- The City of Statesboro and 4 AM Development LLC, as respondents.
- Enforced by
- Superior Court of Bulloch County, Georgia
Eleven residents and the nonprofit Coastal Communities United have asked Bulloch County Superior Court to throw out the City of Statesboro's rezoning of a nearly 27-acre tract on Burkhalter Road, where a roughly 230,000-square-foot two-story data center is proposed. The city council approved the rezoning 3-2 on August 18, 2026, moving the land from R-4 high-density residential to O for office and business. The petitioners want the court to declare the decision void as a violation of the city's own rules and of applicable law, and to bar the developer from building or operating a data center campus there. Their grounds include spot zoning, inverse condemnation of neighbors' property values, and harm to the watershed and the Floridan Aquifer from water use and wastewater seepage, along with noise, vibration, traffic and wildlife displacement. This is the residents' side of a fight that the dataset already sees from the county's direction: Bulloch County, which surrounds Statesboro, has its own data center moratorium running through December 31, 2026 after commissioners rejected an outright ban.
Who is protected: Statesboro residents adjoining the Burkhalter Road tract and, through the aquifer and watershed claims, water users in the surrounding area — contingent entirely on the outcome. Nothing is protected by the filing itself.
Legal detail
Petition for review filed September 17, 2026 in the Superior Court of Bulloch County, Georgia by Coastal Communities United, a nonprofit, together with eleven individual citizens, against the City of Statesboro and 4 AM Development LLC. Challenged action: the Statesboro City Council's 3-2 approval on August 18, 2026 of the owner-applicant's request to rezone approximately 27 acres on Burkhalter Road from R-4 (high-density residential) to O (office and business), for a proposed two-story data center of approximately 230,000 square feet. Relief sought, in the petition's terms: that the court 'find and declare the Zoning Decision by the City of Statesboro to be void, in violation of its own rules and applicable law, and that the Applicant be prohibited from constructing and operating a data center campus on the Subject Property.' Grounds pleaded: procedural violations of the city's own rules and state law; spot zoning as an abuse of municipal zoning authority; inverse condemnation through diminution of neighboring property values; injury to the watershed and the Floridan Aquifer through water consumption and wastewater seepage; and noise, vibration, traffic and wildlife-displacement impacts.
Key facts
| Jurisdiction | Statesboro, GA |
|---|---|
| Level | City / local |
| Citation | Coastal Communities United v. City of Statesboro (Ga. Super. Ct., Bulloch Cty., petition filed Sept. 17, 2026) |
| Private right of action | No, agency enforcement only |
| Penalties | None sought; the relief is declaratory and injunctive. |
| Topics | data-center siting and energy |
| News report | Eleven citizens and nonprofit group file legal challenge to Statesboro data center rezoning — Statesboro Herald |
Related data-center siting and energy rules elsewhere
- Superior WI Data Center Moratorium (1-year) · In effect
- Dane County WI Hyperscale Data Center Moratorium · In effect
- Madison WI Data Center Moratorium (1-year) · In effect
- Manitowoc County WI Data Center Moratorium · In effect
- WA SB 5982 (Data Center / Clean Energy) · In effect
- Dayton OH data center moratorium (180-day, Apr 2026) · In effect
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