Columbia County approves rezoning for White Oak Technology Park after residents raise noise, water and light concerns

The Columbia County Board of Commissioners on May 20 approved a rezoning request to allow the proposed White Oak Technology Park, rezoning two parcels (Tax Map 18 Parcel 6 and Tax Map 19 Parcel 3) from RA and a split RA/M1 to S1 to accommodate data-center development.

The rezoning matters because a data center can change local land use impacts — residents at the hearing cited generator noise, large water use, lighting that could create skyglow and potential traffic increases. County and Development Authority officials said the project’s final technical specifications will be set when an end user is identified and that future approvals would return to the board as needed.

At public comment, Manny Dallas, a resident on Morris Callaway Road, said he could hear nearby road conversations from his front porch and worried the data center’s generators and lighting would be audible and visible at distances of several hundred to more than 1,000 feet. “How can you vote on something where it does not address noise levels, water … and light pollution?” Dallas asked. He also asked how emergency-only access shown on the site plan would be enforced and expressed concern about runoff and the scale of the proposed buildings.

Chaney Eldridge, executive director of the Columbia County Development Authority, told the board the authority had pursued a data center as a high-investment, high-wage project that fit the county’s economic goals and that the authority has not yet secured an end user. “We don’t have an end user that would dictate this final use,” Eldridge said, adding that end-user specifications will determine final systems and that any end-user plans will have to come before the county. She said visits to comparable facilities found limited audible noise at building exteriors and that generator testing was rare: “When they did a study and looked at for a year how long those testings were going on, it was less than 3 minutes the entire year.”

Scott (Planning Services director), speaking for county planning staff, said the rezoning application included a narrative with site controls and that the county typically requires a lighting plan demonstrating zero foot-candles at the property line and downward-facing fixtures to reduce skyward light. He said access points shown on the submitted site plan are called out as emergency-only and that any change to a full-access entrance would require a return to a public hearing.

Drew Frederick of Tremble Crow Company, the project engineering team, said water use has been studied by the county water utility and that water-cooled mechanical systems — which can require millions of gallons per year — are not the only option: “There’s a water solution that’ll be at the expense,” Frederick said, and noted that the facilities typically secure access with gates and restricted employee entry. He added that sound mitigation such as sound walls or other measures can be used where testing or operation produces impacts.

County staff and the Development Authority emphasized that the S1 designation allows data-center uses but that specific operational details — including cooling systems, generator configuration and final landscaping/lighting plans — will be decided later and could require additional permits and public hearings. The board’s motion to approve the rezoning carried by voice vote.

Clarifying details included during the hearing: county staff said the concept narrative referenced as many as 24–29 buildings in a full buildout; Eldridge estimated long-term on-site staffing would be modest (roughly “probably 100 people”) compared with residential development; engineers and staff discussed water-use scenarios that could range into the millions of gallons if water-cooled systems were used but said alternative cooling methods are available.

The rezoning approval does not itself authorize construction; county staff said separate approvals and any end-user site plans will be brought back to the board for review.

The board approved the rezoning at the May 20 meeting; residents who testified asked the county to require noise and lighting plans and to confirm stormwater and traffic mitigations before any building permits are issued.