Bessemer Paves the Way for More Data Centers Despite Growing Resident Concerns

This week, the Bessemer City Council voted to amend its zoning ordinance, officially allowing data centers to be built on land already zoned for industrial use. The decision passed easily six out of seven council members voted in favor following a recommendation from the city’s planning and zoning commission.

City Council President Donna Thigpen emphasized that the vote wasn’t about one particular project but about setting a broader precedent.

“All we’re doing is adding the data center to the zoning ordinance in place,” she explained. “This is not to do with that particular property.”

Still, it’s impossible to separate the zoning change from Project Marvel, a proposed $14 billion data center campus that could sprawl across 700 acres of timberland in a rural stretch of Bessemer. The plan has stirred months of debate, community meetings, and passionate opposition from nearby residents who fear that the so-called “hyperscale” project could alter their landscape and their way of life.

Residents Voice Fears of Noise, Environmental Strain, and Displacement

Among those leading the charge against Project Marvel is Ron Morgan, whose property borders the proposed site. Morgan has become a familiar face at city hearings, raising concerns about noise pollution, tree loss, and the overall impact of industrial-scale development in a quiet, wooded area.

But Morgan says his words often feel like echoes in an empty room. Because his land technically lies outside Bessemer city limits in unincorporated Jefferson County he believes his input is dismissed.

“They’re myopic. They don’t want to listen to anybody,” he said. “They’re going to do exactly what they want to do, regardless of the consequences. All they see is money.”

City Officials Double Down on Support

Despite the resistance, Bessemer’s leadership appears resolute. In a Facebook post shared just before the vote, the city reaffirmed its “full support” for the data center initiative, calling it a potential economic catalyst.

“The Bessemer City Council has reaffirmed its full support for the proposed data center project, recognizing its tremendous potential to benefit the City of Bessemer, its citizens, and the State of Alabama as a whole,” the post read.

City leaders argue that the project could bring thousands of construction jobs, boost local infrastructure, and inject new life into Bessemer’s long-term economic growth plan.

What’s Next for Project Marvel

While the zoning amendment isn’t a green light for Project Marvel itself, it does remove a major bureaucratic hurdle. The next opportunity for residents to voice opinions and perhaps influence the project’s fate will come at a public hearing on November 18 at 9 a.m.

For now, Bessemer stands at a crossroads: one road leading toward technological expansion and economic promise, the other lined with uneasy neighbors worried that progress may come at too high a cost.