Settlement protects sensitive ACE Basin from data center development in Colleton County
A settlement between Colleton County and landowners represented by the Southern Environmental Law Center creates a data center exclusion area covering the ACE Basin and sensitive river corridors. The agreement blocks the previously proposed data center site southwest of Walterboro, while county officials continue work on a map that must be reviewed and approved through the county planning process.
Colleton County reached a settlement with landowners Jennifer Singleton and Miles Crosby after they sued over the approval process for a proposed 1,000-megawatt data center near Walterboro. Represented by the Southern Environmental Law Center, the landowners argued that the county’s zoning changes and approval process violated state law, the county’s comprehensive plan and local zoning rules. The proposed project developer, Eagle Rock Partners, has abandoned that site.
The settlement establishes a data center exclusion area covering the ACE Basin, sensitive rivers and roughly 62% of the county. County staff will refine the map before sending it to the planning commission and County Council for approval and incorporation into the comprehensive plan. Eagle Rock Partners is pursuing another site in northern Colleton County within a digital infrastructure overlay district, while environmental advocates and county officials describe the settlement as a compromise between economic development and conservation.