The records · Southaven's noise law
Every record behind the essay on Southaven's noise law and xAI's turbines
These are the records the essay is built on - the city's own code, the state's own answer, the Memphis permits, the court filings and the news reports. The ones that exist nowhere else online are hosted here. Private phone numbers and personal email addresses are blacked out; nothing else is changed. Read them yourself. If I got something wrong, these are the pages that will show it.
The law
What Southaven's noise law actually says.
The noise law
Written in 1993 (Ord. No. 70). Section 10-93(11), added April 4, 2000, exempts industrial operations from the whole chapter "to the extent the resulting noise level does not exceed seventy (70) dBA at the property boundary." The section on how to measure sound (10-66) and the exterior and interior noise standards (10-91, 10-92) were repealed January 2, 2007. Section 10-141: "The enforcement of this chapter shall be the responsibility of the chief of police or his designee." Section 10-67: up to $1,000 and/or 90 days a day.
What the "A" in dBA does
A plain explanation of A-weighting, and why it under-counts low-frequency sound.
The state
Who regulates noise in Mississippi.
"No authority in the regulation of decibel levels"
Page 28 of the response. MDEQ: "While ‘noise pollution’ is typically considered an aspect of environmental matters, MDEQ has no authority in the regulation of decibel levels (i.e., noise pollution). Such authority within the State of Mississippi resides solely with the local jurisdictional government."
The mayor
Darren Musselwhite, in his own words.
"70 was never acceptable"
The mayor's report to the Board of Aldermen on May 19th: under 50 asked for, "When it is up to 58, I would not want to live there," his meter readings from 39 to 70, and "They have never been in violation of any noise ordinance here."
The mayor's statement on the buyouts
"Part of a comprehensive plan for many months," the noise "has never violated the City's noise ordinance," decibels "demanded" below the ordinance, and the litigation waiver expected "obviously and sensibly." Printed in full by the station.
The $20 billion
The governor's office figure for xAI's investment in the area.
The lawsuit
xAI's argument that only the city can enforce the noise law
xAI and MZX's memorandum to dismiss three of the five claims, quoting Section 10-141.
Zoning and permits
How the codes describe these buildings.
"Allowed by right"
Southaven's planning director: data centers are allowed by right under the city's industrial zoning.
"Storage warehouse"
Item 2: "Application by MZX Tech for design review approval of a storage warehouse to be located on the south side of Stanton Road, west of Tulane Road."
Filed as an office, occupant load zero
xAI Phase 6 building, 312,365 square feet, owner MZX Tech LLC. Use Category "Office," Principal Use "All other offices not listed here," Occupancy "S-2 Storage - Low Hazard," Occupant Load 0. Screen capture from the city's public permit portal, August 4, 2026.
Colossus I: alterations, not a new building
Every permit at the old Electrolux plant. The data center work rides on Commercial Alteration permits; the only Commercial New Construction permits are for solar and batteries; certificate of occupancy record COO-24-000442 is dated July 2024. The portal's date column is the filing date.
No "data center"
The annotated code through ZTA 21-3, 566 pages, searched for "data center," "datacenter" and "data centre": zero results. Published by the Memphis and Shelby County Division of Planning and Development.
The buyouts and the people
The MZX letter
The letter offering to buy homes "in exchange for, among other things, a release of all claims related to the lawsuit."
Krystal Polk's land
Cushman & Wakefield Commercial Advisors' approach for an unnamed client, Polk's Better Business Bureau complaint, and the firm's denial.
Kemp Conrad's calls to Jason Haley
Haley's account and recordings of the March and April 2026 approach.
Who Conrad is
His own bio: Memphis City Council 2009 to 2019, chair in 2016 and 2019, principal at Cushman & Wakefield Commercial Advisors.
Renters told to move
Danielle Dillard's landlord is selling; she has to be out by November 30th.
City Hall
New rules for speaking at Board meetings
Sign up by noon the Friday before with a topic, three minutes, 15 minutes total for the Citizen Agenda, no clapping or booing, and the mayor may have a speaker escorted out. Effective immediately. Passed 6-0, one absent.
How fast a legislature can move
Tennessee repealed its ban on mid-decade redistricting and passed a new congressional map on the same day.
Back to the essay · the case board
Think I got something wrong? Check the records, then tell me. That's the whole point.