Columbia County’s Planning Commission on Jan. 15 recommended that the county commissioners approve three large rezonings that would allow multiple hyperscale data‑center campuses on parcels across the Wrightsboro/Harlem/Appling corridors.

The commission’s votes were recommendations only; the items now go to the Columbia County Board of Commissioners for final action on Feb. 3, 2026. Staff said the district was crafted to add site‑plan safeguards — including mandatory sound surveys, buffer standards, five‑year water and sewer projections and drought management requirements — and presented concept plans showing millions of square feet of data‑center buildings.

Why it matters: Residents who testified said the proposals would change the character of rapidly growing neighborhoods, threaten air and water quality and expose children and nearby schools to chronic noise and low‑frequency vibration. Developers replied that modern designs, closed‑loop cooling and engineered buffers can meet the county’s 70‑decibel limit at property lines and that utilities and traffic impacts will be addressed in later site‑plan and permitting stages.

What developers said
Aaron Bilyeu, chief development officer for Cloverleaf Infrastructure, told the commission the Greenpoint ("Pumpkin Center") concept includes roughly 2.8–3.0 million square feet of data‑center space and about 306,000 square feet of supporting warehouse space. He said the warehouses will store replacement hard drives, spare parts and similar equipment and will be accessed from outside a secured perimeter. On noise, Bilyeu said, “The 70 decibels will be acceptable for us,” and described a plan to locate cooling equipment and use design measures to meet the county standard.

On cooling and water, developers said they are planning closed‑loop liquid cooling for the new server hardware and that initial fills and small make‑up water needs — not continuous open‑evaporation cooling towers — will be the norm. Staff and developers repeatedly told the commission that specific buffer reductions and final noise compliance will be tested and enforced at site plan review, not at the rezoning step.

Residents’ concerns
More than two dozen residents gave testimony opposing the rezonings. Common themes included:
- Noise and low‑frequency vibration: multiple speakers said a 70‑dB limit measured as A‑weighted decibels (dBA) ignores low‑frequency C‑weighted sound (dBC), which residents said carries farther and can cause sleep disturbance and other health effects. "Low‑frequency noise travels farther, penetrates walls, and triggers physiological stress responses," a resident said.
- Water and utilities: speakers and a developer questioner asked for explicit water‑use estimates. Staff said the DC district and utility departments require five‑year water and sanitary sewer projections and that developers would be responsible for necessary upgrades. Residents said the county has a finite lake/aquifer supply and asked for clearer commitments on source and volumes.
- Public process and land‑use expectations: many residents said they had purchased homes expecting residential or mixed‑use development under Vision 2035 and that rezonings to an industrial DC use violates community expectations.

What the commission did
After hours of presentations, questions and public commentary, the commission voted to recommend approval with conditions for three files: RG26301 (Greenpoint/Pumpkin Center rezoning from PUD to DC), RZ260102 (the 944‑acre Bird Farms rezoning) and RZ260103 (a multi‑parcel rezoning of roughly 3,140 acres proposed as Green Jacket / related parcels). Each motion was seconded and the chair declared the motion carried; motions and seconding were recorded but individual roll‑call vote tallies by name were not captured in the public transcript. Staff reiterated the items include conditions requiring water and sewer projections, traffic studies, and site‑plan review for buffer reductions and final noise compliance.

Next steps
These are recommendations to the Columbia County Board of Commissioners, which has final authority. The commission noted that more detailed engineering and environmental reviews — stormwater, wetland delineations, NPDES permitting, and GDOT approvals for road changes — will be required during the civil site‑plan and permit phases if the board approves the rezonings.

Developers and staff argued the DC zoning includes provisions that give the county tools to manage noise, utilities and stormwater during later permitting. Opponents said those later processes are not a substitute for denying a rezoning they said would permanently change neighborhoods.

The Board of Commissioners is scheduled to consider the items on Feb. 3, 2026; the outcomes there will determine whether the rezonings become final.