Columbia County planning commission recommends rezoning for three data‑center campuses amid heavy public opposition

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…