Project River developers ask City of Cleveland to delay further action

From Local 3 News: The Wright family is requesting that the City of Cleveland temporarily delay further action on Project River, which includes a proposed data center in Bradley County.

In a statement, the family says it wants to bring in a third-party team of technical experts to review every aspect of the project and address concerns raised through public engagement over the last few weeks.

The family says the decision is being made with the community’s best interest in mind.

The Wright family also says Project River could provide opportunities for thousands of local men and women to increase their wages and restore their careers following decades of stagnant pay and mill closures.

Project River is a proposed $11.3 billion industrial campus on 850 acres in Bradley County.
Read the full statement:

“The Wright family has lived, worked, worshiped, and raised children in Bradley County for generations. Nothing is more important to the Wright family than being a good neighbor. To that end, with the community’s best interest in mind, the Wright family has requested that the City of Cleveland temporarily delay further action on Project River until the Wright family can onboard a third-party team of technical experts to review every aspect of this project and address concerns raised through public engagement over the last few weeks. Project River gives hope to thousands of local men and women who see an opportunity to increase their wages and restore their careers after decades of stagnant pay and mill closures. They should not lose hope.” - The Wright Family.

How residents are reacting to the announcement:

Those against the proposal are reacting to the Wright Brothers' announcement as well. One Bradley County resident, Megan Phipps, tells Local 3 News:

"I'm overjoyed with the announcement, but I'm proceeding with cautious optimism. I absolutely believe our community impacted the developers' and the city officials' decision. This was a community effort. Even though we will celebrate this win this weekend, we know this isn't over, so if they think they're just going to wait us out, they've got another thing coming. We're not going anywhere. The city needs to answer to the people. We are the ones they are voted to represent. We said no. I hope they're listening. There are still several questions surrounding this project that we deserve answers to. For instance, why would the city remotely entertain this? Bradley County passed data center regulations to protect their people from the harms caused by data center development. These developers thought they'd just skirt their laws by jumping over the county line. No. The City of Cleveland needs to pass a moratorium on data center development and pass comprehensive regulations to make sure something like this never happens again. There has been a great deal of confusion about annexation with the Wright Brothers' properties. As of now, the annexation hearing on Sept. 28th is still scheduled. I don't think anyone in the county believes that annexation wasn't a ploy to leapfrog the rest of their properties into the city limits. The city needs to deny the annexation on the 28th for the 385 acres, and we need to continue to raise our voices to make sure they hear us loud and clear. No annexation. No data center. No Power Plant. Period."