Data dive: Ad hoc data center committee selects first topic for discussion
Greenwood County’s newly formed ad hoc data center committee selected Steve Coleman as chairman and Dave Schofield as vice chairman. The committee will first examine water and sewer issues before making recommendations on whether data centers should be allowed and what regulations should apply in the county.
Greenwood County’s Ad Hoc Committee for Data Centers held its first organizational meeting, electing Steve Coleman as chairman and Dave Schofield as vice chairman. County Council Chairman Theo Lane said the seven-member panel will recommend to the Planning Commission and County Council whether data centers are appropriate and what safeguards should govern them.
The committee chose water and sewer as its first substantive topic, with power demand, noise, setbacks, environmental impacts, air quality and economic effects also on its preliminary agenda. Members may hear from local utility officials and could tour an operating data center as part of their research.
The committee is reviewing a zoning amendment previously approved by County Council that excludes and denies data centers in the county’s I-1, I-2 and RDD districts. Its eventual recommendation could leave that prohibition in place, revise it to allow some development under new rules, or recommend a broader ban. No specific development project is before the committee, and no date was set for its next meeting.