Aug Chron reports on Columbia Co data centers disputes

[neillh...@earthlink.net]

Two out of three: Columbia County OKs rezoning for new data centers

Joe Hotchkiss

Augusta Chronicle

Updated Feb. 4, 2026, 11:20 a.m. ET

• Columbia County commissioners disapproved one of three proposed data center projects after a lengthy public meeting.
• Residents expressed concerns about the projects' potential impact on health, safety, traffic and the environment.
• County leaders have promoted the data centers as a significant source of tax revenue for property tax relief.

 

Columbia County residents hoping to beat back development of three massive data centers walked away Tuesday with a partial victory after county commissioners disapproved one of the projects.

Rural residents spent two-and-a-half hours venting their emotions to a Columbia County Board of Commissioners they say has been tone-deaf to citizens' concerns about the centers.

Development narratives placed the three proposed centers next to White Oak Business Park off Appling-Harlem Highway; near Pumpkin Center off Wrightsboro Road; and, off Lonergan Hulme Road. In all, 39 parcels of land total about 4,500 acres.

 

The centers have been a flashpoint of controversy for months. Property owners who live on or own land near the centers' proposed locations have been peppering commissioners with questions about the projects.

Some residents brought their own answers Tuesday, citing studies and statistics they say prove that the centers imperil health, safety, traffic, the environment, and rural tranquility.

 

Worldwide, the mushrooming growth of artificial intelligence has spurred a building boom for data centers. Their technology helps store and route information that people create and use every day.

Ian Martin is new to Columbia County. He had moved his family into a house off White Oak Road less than three weeks ago. He just heard about the data center proposals.

"While I understand the importance of technology and the growth therein, I believe we've lost the plot when it's acceptable to pimp out our town and our community in the name of progress," he said.

 

Report: Data centers a boon to Georgia economy despite tax giveaway$2 billion Augusta data center project could come online in mid-2026Georgia Power wins approval for massive expansion to support data centersThree data centers? Developer eyeing Columbia County land near I-20Tentative agreement with Georgia Power could mean new capacity for data centers

 

County leaders have touted data centers as reliable tax generators that they hope will pour millions into county coffers, which then would be applied toward property tax abatement.

 

The county and developers have told skeptical residents several times in past public meetings that water consumption wouldn't draw from wells. Also, a closed-loop cooling system that keeps chips and circuits from overheating can reduce freshwater use by as much as 70% by one estimate. Commissioners voted 4-1 to approve rezonings for the White Oak project and the Pumpkin Center project, with District 4 Commissioner Alison Couch casting the only "no" vote. Each one carried conditions that noise would not exceed 60 decibels at the property lines and, with Pumpkin Center, that 500-foot buffers with 12-foot berms planted with evergreens would shield the center from view.

The third rezoning, for the Byrd Farm Technology Campus, was disapproved 4-1 with District 1 Commissioner Connie Melear voting to approve it. The disapproval came despite the developer's face-to-face visits with each property owner on Lonergan Hulme and agreeing to several development conditions set initially by the owners. The tech campus was eyed for residential and commercial development.