Three Major Data Center Proposals Face Community Pushback in Georgia's Columbia County
January 9, 2026 A cluster of three large-scale data center developments proposed for Columbia County, Georgia, is facing significant local opposition ahead of crucial rezoning votes, highlighting the growing tensions between rapid digital infrastructure expansion and community concerns in emerging markets. The Columbia County Planning Commission is scheduled to review rezoning requests for all three projects on January 15. The proposals, located within a roughly six-mile radius west of Augusta, represent a substantial potential investment in an area not traditionally known for data centers, which in Georgia are predominantly concentrated around Atlanta. The largest project, planned for the White Oak Business Park, is backed by Trammell Crow Company, a CBRE subsidiary. It requires an expansion of the park to accommodate a massive 8.1 million square foot (750,000 square meter) campus. A Development of Regional Impact application for this site was filed with state authorities in April of last year. The second proposal, the Byrd Farms Technology Campus east of Louisville Road, would occupy 944.27 acres. The smallest of the three, the 420-acre Pumpkin Technology Campus, is proposed by Piedmont DevCo LLC, which is backed by Cloverleaf Infrastructure—a developer focused on large-scale digital infrastructure sites powered by low-carbon electricity. Plans for this campus detail four data center buildings, two warehouses, and a substation. Local residents have mobilized against the projects, citing worries over increased utility costs, potential environmental impacts, and changes to the community's character. A Facebook discussion group focused on data centers in the county has been formed, and an online petition specifically objecting to the Pumpkin Technology Campus had gathered 195 signatures at the time of reporting. The outcome of next week's hearings will be closely watched as a bellwether for whether secondary markets like the Augusta area can absorb the scale of development demanded by the data center industry amid increasing public scrutiny over land use and resource consumption. Source: datacenterdynamics
