May 13, 2026
Birmingham Residents Sue to Block 300-Megawatt AI Data Center
On May 13, 2026, two Oxmoor Valley homeowners filed a class action lawsuit in the Circuit Court of Jefferson County, Alabama, seeking to halt construction of the proposed 300-megawatt Nebius AI campus. The case is Greene and Butler v. Nebius, et al.
Protect Oxmoor is sharing the official press release issued by plaintiffs’ counsel below. Protect Oxmoor is not a party to the litigation. For copies of the complaint, motions, or media inquiries regarding the case, contact Parnell Thompson, LLC using the information provided in the release.
Read “New Legal Filing Suggests Birmingham Helped Developers Evade Data Center Moratorium” in BirminghamWatch.
Read the Amended Complaint — May 25, 2026 (PDF)
PARNELL THOMPSON, LLC
Attorneys at Law
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 13, 2026
Birmingham Homeowners File Class Action to Halt 300-Megawatt Nebius AI Data Center in Oxmoor Valley
Suit alleges the City of Birmingham authorized construction without the public hearings the Zoning Ordinance requires, and after the Zoning Board of Adjustment denied the required special exceptions.
BIRMINGHAM, AL — Two Birmingham residents today filed a class action lawsuit in the Circuit Court of Jefferson County, Alabama, on behalf of all residential property owners in the Oxmoor Valley corridor, seeking to halt construction of a 300-megawatt hyperscale artificial intelligence computing campus that the complaint alleges was authorized in violation of the Birmingham Zoning Ordinance.
The lawsuit — Greene and Butler v. Nebius, et al. — names as defendants Nebius, Inc.; Nebius Group N.V. (NASDAQ: NBIS); Alabama ADC Holdings LLC; Hoar Construction, LLC; the City of Birmingham; and the Birmingham Zoning Board of Adjustment. Plaintiffs Madelyn Greene and David Butler bring the action individually and as proposed class representatives, and are represented by K. Mark Parnell of Parnell Thompson, LLC.
Together with the complaint, plaintiffs filed a Motion for Preliminary Injunction asking the Court to halt all further site work, and a Motion for Class Certification on behalf of hundreds of homeowners in the affected area.
The Project, marketed publicly as the “Birmingham AI Factory,” would occupy an approximately 79.33-acre, four-parcel assemblage along Milan Parkway and Venice Road in Oxmoor Valley. According to the complaint, the campus would consume roughly 2.6 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity per year — more than double the annual residential electricity use of the entire City of Birmingham — and would operate twenty-four hours a day within approximately one mile of numerous homes and several schools.
The complaint alleges that construction is proceeding without the Conceptual Plan amendment and public hearings the Site’s MXD zoning classification requires, that the Zoning Board of Adjustment already denied the special exceptions needed for the Project’s power substation and switching station, and that the building permits the City has issued — including an approximately $7 million permit to Hoar Construction — are therefore void. The complaint also brings claims for private nuisance, trespass, and negligence per se.
“This case is about one straightforward principle: the City has to follow its own rules,” said K. Mark Parnell, counsel for the plaintiffs. “The Zoning Board denied the special exceptions the Project needed. The applicant didn’t appeal. Those denials are final. And the Council itself has acknowledged, on the record, that Birmingham doesn’t yet have clear rules for hyperscale data centers. Every day construction continues is another day of irreversible harm to homeowners who never got the public hearing the Ordinance entitled them to.”
Plaintiff and Oxmoor Valley homeowner Madelyn Greene said residents exhausted every effort to work with City leaders before turning to the courts.
“We expressed our concerns directly to City leaders and made it clear why we do not want this project in our community. Our neighbors in Ross Bridge and Homewood have also spoken up and shared many of the same fears and frustrations. We wanted to give the City an opportunity to do the right thing — to listen to us, to take our ‘no’ seriously, and to act in the best interests of the people who actually live here. Instead, many of us feel like our voices have been silenced and ignored. Filing this lawsuit was never our first choice, but it now feels like our last resort and the only remaining way for our community to be heard. This lawsuit is about protecting our neighborhoods and, for me personally as a former educator, protecting the students and families who call Oxmoor Valley home.”
Plaintiff David Butler said the lawsuit raises concerns that extend beyond Oxmoor Valley and should matter to residents across Birmingham.
“This lawsuit is not just about Oxmoor Valley — this is about standing up for every Birmingham resident. While the Mayor is publicly promoting a data center moratorium, Birmingham residents need to understand that this AI facility is still moving forward and would be one of the largest projects of its kind the City has ever seen. If the City is willing to allow a massive AI center to be pushed into our community despite overwhelming opposition from residents, then every neighborhood in Birmingham should be asking themselves what could stop the same thing from happening in theirs.”
Plaintiffs seek declaratory and injunctive relief halting the Project pending compliance with the Zoning Ordinance, together with compensatory damages on behalf of the class for diminution in property value, loss of use and enjoyment, and nuisance. The full Complaint, Motion for Preliminary Injunction, and Motion for Class Certification are available upon request.
The proposed class consists of residential property owners in the Oxmoor Valley corridor and surrounding neighborhoods.
Media Contact
K. Mark Parnell, Esq.
Parnell Thompson, LLC
120 19th Street North, Suite 2134, Birmingham, AL 35203
(205) 582-2652 | parnell@ptlawllc.com
The allegations described in this release are those set forth in the Class Action Complaint filed in the Circuit Court of Jefferson County, Alabama.
# # #
Background
Protect Oxmoor formed because residents of Oxmoor Valley and surrounding neighborhoods believed the public process surrounding this project was inadequate from the outset. The filing of this lawsuit reflects concerns many residents have raised for months regarding transparency, zoning procedures, public hearings, and whether existing processes for projects of this scale were properly followed.
Protect Oxmoor will continue to share publicly available information as this matter develops.