The Augusta Planning Commission unanimously voted in favor of a prospective data center project on Gordon Highway during its meeting, Monday afternoon, but not without deliberation and some contention.
Property owner Vitrified Brick & Clay Co. and developer Eagle South LLC petitioned to rezone 2883 Gordon Highway from Agricultural and General Business to only General Business, planning to build a data center on the 165.21-acre parcel. The proposed facility would consist of six buildings, totaling more than 1.4 million square feet, and would employ between 160 and 220 people, according to the applicants.
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The property abuts the Columbia County line to its north, and the Captains Corner neighborhood to its west. Speaking on behalf of the applicants, attorney Darren Meadows and engineer Ryan Page addressed questions from the planning commissioners regarding the buffer zone from the residential areas, light pollution and parking, noting that the homes sit some 50 feet elevated from the development site, all streetlights would point downward and the developers anticipate creating approximately 300 parking spaces.
Meadows did contest two of the planning staff’s recommended conditions for approval of the request. One was a requirement that the project mitigate the wetlands on the property with the Army Corps of Engineers before site approval.
The attorney acknowledged that the developers would have to confer with the Corps of Engineers to delineate the wetlands on the property, and after this process purchase wetlands mitigation credits before any construction that could affect the wetlands areas.
“And of course, if we can’t get that approved through the Corps, then we can’t impact,” said Meadows, stressing that the developers sought to begin construction as soon as possible on the one building in the project that would not impact the wetlands. “We’d like to be able to have an opportunity to present a phased plan so that we can get some work started while we’re working through the mitigation process with the Corps.”
Moreover, Page noted that the process to acquire a wetlands permit can take between 12 and 18 months.
“Everybody’s wanting this project to move forward … on a relatively timely basis,” Page said. “But if we’re waiting 18 months before we can submit a plan for review, it’s just pushing everything out.”
Meadows also questioned a condition by the planning staff requiring the removal, or rezoning, of an inert landfill on the property. He insisted that the applicants had already conferred with the Environmental Protection Division regarding the landfill, saying it was a decomposing heap of discarded tree limbs and stumps from a previous tenant’s mulching operation.
Disagreement ensued regarding both oppositions to the recommended conditions, with some of the commissioners, such as James O’Neal, Donnie Smith and McKnight, initially urging that the item be postponed to July’s meeting.
Planning and Development Director Carla Delaney thought the matter was sufficient to be decided, and reaffirmed the staff’s recommendations, noting similar concerns raised when the same site was approved for rezoning in 2022, also for a data center project, proposed by T5 company in Atlanta, who is no longer involved.
“Our recommendations are here to guide you in a way that helps protect the residents and business owners of Richmond County,” said Delaney, also iterating that staff would ultimately stand by the Planning Commission’s decision. “We have concerns about reviewing it as a site plan when it comes in with all of these things.”
Ultimately, Delaney agreed to alter language in the staff’s recommendation regarding the wetlands mitigation to allow for phased development of the site, and Meadows agreed to the conditions as set forth by the staff. The planning commissioners all voted in favor of the request.
Skyler Q. Andrews is a staff reporter for The Augusta Press. Reach him at skyler@theaugustapress.com.
