Planning commission backs rezoning for proposed White Oak Technology Park after lengthy data center discussion

The Columbia County Planning Commission on Tuesday recommended approval of a rezoning to create the White Oak Technology Park, a large multi-parcel data center development that applicants said could include multiple 250,000-square-foot buildings and supporting power infrastructure.

The commission made the recommendation after staff described the project and after representatives for the Development Authority of Columbia County and the property owners answered commissioners’ questions about water use, traffic, job counts and operational impacts.

The project would rezone roughly 1,900 acres to S1 (Special) to permit an Auto/Technology Park-type development. Planning staff described the application as a large-scale, phased technology campus with multiple building “pods,” substations adjacent to each pod and a 500-foot residential building setback around the project. Staff said the county could phase utilities and required environmental and traffic studies during review.

Chaney Eldridge, executive director of the Development Authority of Columbia County, told the commission she and county leadership identified data centers as a priority for the county’s economic development strategy. “Data centers as the number 1 industry that we should be targeting to get that,” Eldridge said, citing due diligence visits to similar facilities.

Engineers and developers described worst-case and likely operational scenarios. Drew Frederick, an engineer with Trail and Crow Company, said some cooling systems evaporate about 70% of process water and that “about 30% of it would go and, in most cases, it would go into a recycling, go into a cistern or to a pond, be treated and reused.” Commissioners were also told the highest near-term water estimates reflect a full, immediate buildout and that the county and utilities could manage phased growth.

Speakers for the applicant and property owner emphasized the project would employ relatively few permanent staff compared with its size; technical staff said an operating building might have “roughly about 50 people per building,” while construction would generate higher, temporary traffic and workforce demands.

Residents and other meeting participants raised concerns about noise from generators and chillers, nighttime lighting, and potential emergency generator testing during high-demand periods. Planning staff said those concerns were noted in the project narrative and that additional, project-specific mitigation — including noise limits, downcast lighting and covenants — could be addressed in later permitting and site-plan stages.

After discussion, a motion to recommend approval of the rezoning carried. The commission’s recommendation will be forwarded to the Columbia County Board of Commissioners for final action.