Columbia County Sticks With Data Center Zoning Plan Despite Residents’ Worries
Colombia County will not reconsider reversing the vote to rezone Appling to make room data centers.
At Tuesday's meeting, Columbia County's Board of Commissioners refused to back down on its decision to rezone the Appling data center. Board Chairman Doug Duncan made this clear to the packed room.
Local voices shot back at the rushed timeline. "Only three months after approval, a compressed schedule from initial filings to approval left no room for education, for debate or for alternatives," resident Alan Wyatt told the board, according to The Augusta Press.
Staff must now create new rules for a standalone data center zone. These guidelines will align with how other zones, such as business areas, establish clear boundaries for operations.
Chairman Duncan stated that the board is focused on responding to community feedback about zoning for large-scale developments. He emphasized that the county will look to best practices from other regions that have prior experience regulating this type of construction.
Wyatt also debated that the project does not fit with Vision 2035, explaining it might affect the character of Appling.
When the discussion turned to the technical requirements for data centers, the topic of cooling systems was a key focus. Duncan clarified that the estimated cost of cooling infrastructure, cited at $80 million, would be the responsibility of the project’s developers rather than taxpayers.
The county's current general fund sits at $100 million, with homestead taxes bringing in $20 million. A $500 million boost from data centers might let the county cut homeowner taxes through bigger exemptions.
