SAND SPRINGS, Okla. — A lawsuit aiming to ax the data center planned on newly-annexed land in Sand Springs will now be heard by Tulsa County judge. The group behind it is also planning a recall petition.
Protect Sand Springs Alliance is suing City of Sand Springs, alleging the city violated the law by annexing the land for it six miles outside of town in Osage County but claiming a fence line made it possible.
- Previous coverage>>> Lawsuit filed against the City of Sand Springs in response to data center planning and development
"They essentially annexed that 1966 fence line. They re-annexed it after it had been detached," PSSA founder Kyle Schmidt told 2 News on Feb. 17. "And they can't do that without a vote of the city council. And that violates everybody's rights up there."
WATCH: Project Spring data center lawsuit moved to Tulsa County
The city's legal team has already motioned to dismiss the case altogether, calling it meritless.
An Osage County judge denied that motion on Feb. 13 but agreed to move the lawsuit to Tulsa County.
Sand Springs city manager Mike Carter responded to the court house move in a statement emailed to 2 News:
"The City views the recent transfer of the case to Tulsa County as expected. The law is clear that this case should have been originally filed in this county, and this action only verifies this.
The City made a motion to dismiss as we equally believe that the other claims made in the lawsuit are without merit, and we do not believe that this will have any negative impact upon the project moving forward.
The City looks forward to having Google as a part of the Sand Springs community and know that they will be a great partner in the future success of Sand Springs."
The lawsuit isn't the only resistance effort from the alliance. Schmidt said it's planning signature collection events at Case Community Center throughout weekends in March to recall city councilors who approved the data center's rezoning.
"At the end of the day, the annexation should be voided is the strongest claim there is," Schmidt said. "And we're one hundred percent confident that in the end the court is going to decide that the city annexed it illegally, and it'll get overturned and that'll be the end of the data center for that property."
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