The room was hot, crowded and increasingly tense. Dozens of Jackson residents — some with signs that read “No Data Centers,” “Can’t Drink Data” and “Jackson is our City” packed shoulder-to-shoulder into the small conference room inside the Warren Hood Building on Wednesday, May 27.
They were there for a Jackson Planning Board meeting centered around a controversial rezoning request tied to a possible future data center development on roughly 190 acres near Forest Avenue and Interstate 220 in Northwest Jackson.
Many people in the crowd could not hear officials speaking from the front of the room. Residents repeatedly challenged board members over procedure as frustrations steadily mounted during the meeting. At three different points, chants of “No data centers!” broke out as residents pressed officials for answers about the proposed development and the city’s plans moving forward. Planning Board Chair Michael Booker repeatedly tried to regain control of the meeting but couldn’t…