Effingham County Faces Calls for Stricter Data Center Rules
Effingham County commissioners advanced a comprehensive zoning ordinance update while residents pushed for stricter rules requiring data centers to obtain conditional-use approval and undergo public hearings. Residents are also seeking a moratorium on future data center development, and three residents have sued the county over a zoning change that permits data centers in certain industrial areas.
Effingham County commissioners in Springfield, Georgia, unanimously advanced an updated zoning ordinance and map on first reading, with a second reading scheduled for Nov. 3. The revisions expand Planning Board involvement in some conditional-use applications, but residents said data centers should require conditional-use approval and public hearings throughout industrial zoning districts rather than being allowed by right.
Residents’ concerns intensified after the disclosure of Project Camellia, an OpenAI data center campus planned at the Savannah Gateway Industrial Hub. Lyndsay Smith and other residents questioned whether the public received adequate notice of earlier zoning changes and development discussions, while Commissioner Roger Burdette defended the county’s process. Three residents, including Raymond Carver, have sued Effingham County over an Aug. 4 zoning change allowing data centers in certain industrial areas.
Commissioners discussed placing a temporary moratorium on future data center proposals while new safeguards are considered. Commissioners Beth Helmly and Burdette supported considering a moratorium, and Helmly said the issue should be placed on the agenda as soon as possible, but no moratorium had been enacted at the time of the article.