Franklin County Planning Commission Backs One Data Center Project, Rejects Another
April 23, 2026
A planning commission in Franklin County, Missouri, has issued split recommendations on two proposed data center developments, approving one while rejecting the other after months of heated public debate. The decisions, made during a meeting on Tuesday, April 21, underscore the growing tension between the rapid expansion of digital infrastructure and local opposition in rural communities across the United States.
The Franklin County Planning and Zoning Commission voted on rezoning amendments for both projects, each passing or failing by a razor-thin margin of a single vote. The recommendations come after a contentious March 17 meeting that stretched over 11 hours, from 6 p.m. to roughly 4:30 a.m., forcing commissioners to postpone their decision by more than a month due to the intensity of public input.
Provident Data Centers' Diamond Farms proposal received the commission's backing. The plan calls for rezoning approximately 575 acres of agricultural land at the eponymous Diamond Farms site on Robertsville Road to accommodate a future development known as the Gateway Digital Campus. In contrast, a proposal from energy company BLE Landholdings, operating under the name Beltline, failed to secure the same recommendation. That project sought to rezone 12 parcels totaling 490 acres near 684 Phelan Road.
"Both votes were decided by a margin of one," reflecting the deeply divided views within the commission itself. However, both projects still require final approval from the Franklin County Commission, meaning the battle is far from over.
Public sentiment has been broadly opposed to both developments. A grassroots Facebook group called "No AI Data Centers in Franklin County" has grown to more than 3,000 members as of this writing, up from roughly 2,000 in March, signaling escalating community concern over the projects' potential impact on local land use, water resources, and the rural character of the area.
Franklin County, located west of St. Louis along Missouri's eastern border with Illinois, is now at the center of a broader national debate over where and how to site the massive data centers needed to power cloud computing and artificial intelligence. The conflicting recommendations highlight the challenges developers face as they push into smaller jurisdictions, where local resistance can delay or derail projects even as demand for data center capacity continues to surge.
Source: datacenterdynamics
