Planning commission hearing on 4th data center is Tuesday evening

LBM Associates and Industrial VI Enterprises LLC are proposing the 75 South Data Center Campus, a substantial development planned for 292.41 acres at 1221 Tomochichi Road in Griffin, Spalding County, Georgia. This proposed fourth data center campus would consist of seven two-story buildings, totaling 2.24 million square feet. The project is estimated to have a build-out value of $6 billion by 2030, generating an estimated $86.3 million in annual local tax revenues and 200 full-time jobs. The project faces several regulatory hurdles, including a request for rezoning from AR-1 and R-2 to C-1C, a Future Land Use Map amendment, and a special exception for a data center in C-1C zoning. Crucially, the site contains wetlands, necessitating variances from the county’s S-4 Sensitive Lands Wetlands Protection District, which typically prohibits data centers in such areas. Additionally, a variance for maximum building height in C-1C zoning is required. The Spalding County Planning and Appeals Commission is holding a public hearing on Tuesday evening to address concerns from both opponents and proponents of the proposed development. This hearing was delayed from March 31 after the developer's attorney, Steven Jones, discovered the property was in the AKB overlay district, requiring a withdrawal and refiling of the application to ensure compliance. The Development of Regional Importance (DRI) notification, filed by Spalding County Community Development director David Allen, indicates an estimated 30,000 gallons per day of water usage from the Spalding County Water and Sewerage Authority and 450MW per day of electricity from Central Georgia EMC.