Columbia Data Center, Columbia, Missouri

A rezoning that could have brought a data center to 63 acres of farmland at 3815 Hinkson Creek Road, northeast of U.S. 63 and Paris Road in north Columbia, Boone County, Missouri, was blocked when the City Council split 3-3 on Nov. 17, 2025, with Sixth Ward council member Betsy Peters absent. The owner, Gordon Arbuckle, said he wanted to build a technology hub there, and the developer representing him said a data center would fall under light industry.

The request, filed on behalf of the J Gordon Arbuckle Living Trust, sought to change 63.11 acres of an 83.66-acre property from agriculture to industrial, and city staff noted the applicant had said a data center may be pursued on the site. The city's Planning and Zoning Commission recommended the change in October after residents questioned putting a possible data center on working farmland. "We've seen places like Memphis and Texas, places that are already suffering from high utility rates," said Columbia resident James Gordon. Isaac Ellis, a farmer who lives southeast of the site, described cows and calves, hay storage, a big barn and a house on the land, though he added, "I think industrial land is needed in Columbia."

On the night of the council vote, people handed out stickers reading "Save Farmland: No Data Center" outside the packed chamber. "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," Ellis told the council.

The council later voted 6-0 for the city's first data center definition and zoning criteria, which require a conditional use permit for any new data center, and asked staff to bring forward a six-month pause on applications. In May 2026 it adopted a one-year moratorium instead, pausing any data center permits or plans from being processed until April 2027; the rezoning of the Arbuckle land, like any future one, is the City Council's call.