Data centers in Boone County, Missouri: 1 project mapped

Imagery: Esri, Maxar

A 3-3 tie on the Columbia City Council in November 2025 stopped a rezoning that residents feared would bring a data center. Landowner Gordon Arbuckle wanted 63 acres of farmland at 3815 Hinkson Creek Road, northeast of U.S. 63 and Paris Road, rezoned from agriculture to industrial for what he called a technology hub. His developer said a data center would count as light industry there. The city's Planning and Zoning Commission had recommended the rezoning 7-2 in October. At the council meeting, residents in the packed chamber wore stickers reading "Save Farmland: No Data Center." Isaac Ellis, a farmer who lives nearby, said: "There's a commodity that is being sold, bought and eaten on that farm right now, and we have no clue what will come after." With Sixth Ward council member Betsy Peters absent, the rezoning failed on the tie.

Columbia then moved to write rules before anyone else came. The council unanimously adopted a definition of a data center, and after an 8-0 planning commission vote, a requirement that any new one get a conditional use permit. It also voted 6-0 to have staff bring forward a six-month pause on processing data center applications while standards are finished. "They do not have the right to take our own goods, wreck our natural resources and leave us to pick up the tab," said Fourth Ward council member Nick Foster, citing complaints about AI data centers in Memphis. The planning commission has been drafting location criteria: distance from schools, parks, trails and homes, road access, and noise, light and vibration buffers. It plans to take up decommissioning, water use and electric demand next. "If we don't do this, we would have no guidelines for a data center and that would put us in a position where we are trying to play catch-up," said commission chair Sharon Jones. What happens next: the commission's remaining standards, then draft regulations released for public comment, including through the city's BeHeard site.

Every project above is drawn from public records, filings and local reporting. Each row links to what it is based on. Statuses change, so check the source date before you rely on one. Found something wrong? Write to [email protected] and it gets fixed.