A Morgan County judge dismissed a lawsuit Tuesday that attempted to stop the construction of electric vehicle startup Rivian’s $5 billion factory.
Six people, who either live or own property near the 1,800-acre project site, filed a lawsuit last January that accused the state of assuming control of the property to illegally circumvent local zoning codes and land disturbance permits. They alleged that the state acquired the project site to avoid scrutiny and public opposition during local rezoning hearings.
But Ocmulgee Judicial Circuit Judge Stephen A. Bradley ruled that local zoning does not apply to government-owned land, even if it’s being leased to a private company for economic development.
“While the Court may be sympathetic to local landowners adversely affected by the Rivian Project, it is compelled to follow existing law,” Bradley’s ruling said. “... As such, the actions on the Rivian Project property are immune from any Morgan County land use regulation.”
His ruling is the latest in a string of legal victories for the state regarding the Rivian plant — Georgia’s second-largest economic development project by promised jobs and investment. The company, which declined to comment on the lawsuit’s outcome, is preparing to begin vertical construction on its 16 million-square-foot factory early this year. Cox Enterprises, which owns The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, also owns about a 4% stake in Rivian.
“It is a new year, and this ruling is a defining new chapter as we look towards a bright future of success with Rivian,” the state and Joint Development Authority of Jasper, Morgan, Newton and Walton Counties (JDA) said in a statement.
John Christy, an Atlanta attorney for the plaintiffs, said his clients are considering an appeal. They will have 30 days to file notice of such action.
Christy said giving the state and local governments unmitigated power to greenlight development projects on public property is a dangerous precedent to perpetuate.
“If the state were to say it was a valid economic use to put a liquor store next to a school, the state could theoretically buy the land and put a liquor store or bar or any other type of business next to a school and just completely (disregard) local zoning ordinances,” he said. “To us, that doesn’t seem to be right.”
Sovereign immunity
Rivian’s EV factory is slated for rural property in southern Morgan and Walton counties, located roughly an hour east of Atlanta.
The site consists of 28 parcels that were acquired by the JDA, a government entity. The parcels were zoned for agricultural use, not industrial.
The JDA initially filed rezoning requests that were set to go before the Morgan County Commission in March 2022. But the Georgia Department of Economic Development stepped in and assumed control of the project a month before the scheduled vote and withdrew the rezoning requests.
Christy’s clients filed their lawsuit soon after.
Credit: Hyosub Shin/AJC
Credit: Hyosub Shin/AJC
During a November hearing, attorney Charlie Peeler, who represents the state, argued that Bradley should dismiss the lawsuit because state-owned land is not subject to local regulation, part of a legal concept called sovereign immunity.
“The plaintiffs have never cited a single case where a local restriction was imposed on state-owned property,” Peeler said.
Christy argued that state law only allows for a government’s plans to supersede local zoning if it’s for a public purpose, but the state countered that past economic development projects like this have survived similar legal challenges and have a legal precedent. The state also argued that the scale of the Rivian factory, which is expected to employ 7,500 workers, separates it from other private endeavors.
Bradley agreed with the state, although he said the scale doesn’t earn the project extra legal protections.
“The state’s argument also seems to suggest that the scale of this project allows it to be viewed differently from other private projects, somehow recasting a private manufacturing plant into a public project. It does not,” the judge wrote. “The desired end result is still a private, for-profit manufacturing plant, not a public facility.”
The battle continues
A similar zoning fight remains in an Atlanta court.
Christy’s clients filed a nearly identical lawsuit in Fulton County, where the Georgia Department of Economic Development’s offices are based.
Credit: TNS
Credit: TNS
That case, too, faces an uphill climb. Fulton Superior Court Judge Thomas Cox Jr. ruled in April that the plaintiffs will need to pay upfront nearly $365,000 to cover the government’s legal costs and attorney’s fees under what’s known as a petition for bond. It’s a tactic designed to discourage frivolous lawsuits against local and state governments. The appeals court is reviewing the petition bond and whether it is warranted in this case.
The state and JDA alleged the Morgan County case was also frivolous, but Bradley disagreed and allowed the litigation to continue unimpeded — even though it still resulted in the defendants prevailing.
Christy said there could still be costly consequences if Rivian begins to build its factory. He said if his clients choose to appeal in Morgan County and are eventually victorious, the EV startup would have to return the land to the way it was — likely costing millions.
“They proceed at their own risk,” he said.
