The Columbia County Board of Commissioners approved the second and final reading of the new data center ordinance (D-C).
The full, approved items was ordinance number 25-07, text amendment to Chapter 90 Zoning, Article III Commercial, Industrial, Professional, Special, Planned Unit Development and Planned Development Districts, Section 90-97 Allowed uses, Section 90-98 List of lot and structure requirements, and establishing Section 90-101 D-C Data center district. Article IV Supplemental Requirements, Section 90-139 Buffers and screening, and Section 90-147 Use provisions.
During the public hearing portion of the item, Brian Berfoot voiced some concerns he had with the ordinance, including the decibel level listed. He referenced data center ordinances that are being created or have been created by other counties that have set data center sounds limits around 50 to 60 decibels.
“Would you want a data center next to your existing house with this ordinance as written,” Berfoot asked.
He also asked what action the county can take to enforce the ordinance and ensure the items in it are being followed.
Lee Muns, who has been vocally against the data center, also spoke. He claimed the commission acted in secrecy when it came to the data center and its rezoning and are hiding behind NDAs.
“For a year and a half, this board has been moving forward with massive land sales, high dollar financial deals and a blueprint for what will become the single largest development in Columbia County. And you have done it in deliberate, sustained and strategic secrecy,” Muns said.
He also claimed the county is rushing the process and locking the community out of the process. Muns also claimed the county “advanced the largest land decision in decades, quietly and without true public involvement.”
County officials have previously stated that all legal requirements were followed for the proposed Appling data center rezoning. Those legal requirements include posting about the hearing on the county website, placing signs advertising the hearing on the property that is being rezoned and running a legal notice in the Augusta Chronicle, which is the legal organ for the county. That notice ran on April 16.
The Columbia County Planning Commission held a public hearing on the proposed Appling data center on May 1. During that public hearing, four people spoke about the rezoning. One was Cheney Elridge with the Economic Development Authority, another was from Trammel Crow, and finally, Vin Mueller, a community member, according to the minutes of the Columbia County Planning Commission. When the item went before the Columbia County Board of Commissioners on May 20, with one community member speaking about the rezoning at that time, according to the meeting minutes.
Proposed Appling data center possible rezoning
While the data center ordinance wouldn’t affect the proposed data center in Appling since it came before the ordinance, the Augusta Press previously reported that at the November meeting of the Economic Development Authority of Columbia County (EDACC), they confirmed that Trammell Crow Company, the Dallas real estate developer that aims to build a data center in Appling, will seek to rezone the subject property to the county’s new Data Center (D-C) zoning.
Columbia County EMA recognized
Columbia County Emergency Management was recognized for being named the 2025 EMA of the Year by the Emergency Management Association of Georgia. This is the first time in the history of the county that Columbia County EMA has received the honor.
