Commissioners say county lacks water capacity for proposed Appling data center; developer to fund upgrades, commission declines to reverse rezoning

Columbia County commissioners on Sept. 6 told residents the county’s water system does not have the capacity to serve a proposed large data center in the Appling area and that the developer would be responsible for building needed water facilities. The commission also said it will not reverse an earlier rezoning approval but directed staff to draft a standalone data-center zoning classification for future applications.

In a recorded response to public questions, the chairman said the county “does not have that capacity” to supply an estimated peak water demand of about 6,000,000 gallons per day for the site, and stated an estimated cost to build the needed water system of roughly $80,000,000, which the county would require the developer to pay. The chairman said the development details are not finalized and that any work “will be done in accordance with the principles of low impact development as described by the Georgia stormwater management manual.”

Residents spoke at the meeting to urge more transparency and more public review. Alan Wyatt, of 2189 Morris Callaway Road, urged commissioners to reverse the rezoning for the Appling site, saying the timeline and secrecy around land purchases left residents without adequate opportunity to weigh in. “A compressed schedule from initial filings to approval left no room for education, for debate, or for alternatives,” Wyatt said.

Commission staff addressed other questions on record: stormwater design will follow Georgia standards and is required to ensure post-development runoff does not exceed pre-development flows; existing vegetation is the county’s preferred 500-foot buffer in this instance because it provides screening; backup power strategies and generator/battery details have not been finalized but would have to comply with applicable regulations; and groundwater production wells will not be permitted by the county for this project.

On tax treatment, staff told the audience that data centers in Georgia may access state sales-and-use tax exemptions for qualifying equipment if they meet investment and job thresholds, but said the county has no plan to provide sales-tax relief beyond what state law allows. Property taxes and ad valorem assessments on real and tangible personal property would apply unless preempted by state law. On revenue, the chairman stated an estimate on the record that the project could generate on the order of $500,000,000 in tax value, and described the county general fund at about $100,000,000 with roughly $20,000,000 coming from homestead property taxes.

The commission also said it had directed staff to draft a standalone zoning classification for data centers to clarify permitted uses, buffers and development standards going forward. No reversal of the prior rezoning was recommended in the public remarks, though residents asked the board to reopen the decision and hold a longer public review.

Public commenters urged additional safeguards, including stronger transparency around land sale terms and nondisclosure agreements that limited public information, detailed stormwater and water-use studies, and clearer commitments on power and cooling technology. The commission said staff would incorporate best practices from other jurisdictions in the new data-center zoning language.