As data centers eye Middle GA, developers influence counties behind closed doors

In Jones County, Georgia, a controversy has erupted over data center development, following revelations that developer Eagle Rock Partners and its engineering firm, Thomas & Hutton, engaged in months of private communication with county officials. Emails, obtained via open records requests by The Telegraph, showed the developer influencing proposed legislation regulating data centers, including editing text and coordinating application and vote timelines. Residents, organized by Alex Lefholz, expressed anger and disillusionment, believing the process was predetermined despite extensive public comment against the proposals. The Georgia Department of Community Affairs’ temporary pause on Development of Regional Impact (DRI) reports for data centers further incentivized the developer to expedite approvals, as these reports provide critical public information. Jones County Planning and Zoning Director Tim Pitrowski was noted for presenting multiple versions of the data center amendment to commissioners, including one influenced by the "regulated community" (developers), effectively bypassing recommendations from the Planning and Zoning Board member Stephen Hoyt, who advocated for stronger environmental impact study requirements. After the Jones County Board of Commissioners initially approved a developer-influenced amendment and Eagle Rock Partners filed an application to rezone 600 acres, the developer abruptly withdrew its application. Subsequently, commissioners rescinded the amendment after a citizens group highlighted legal issues. A new amendment, allowing data centers as conditional uses in M-2 industrial zones (like the Jones County Development Authority-managed Griswoldville Industrial Park), was passed in January, prompting a lawsuit from residents in February. The lawsuit alleges illegal spot zoning, contract zoning, and procedural violations. Similar issues of developer influence were also reported in neighboring Twiggs County, which faces its own lawsuit over an Eagle Rock Partners-backed project approved during the DRI report suspension.