Coweta County Residents Challenge Rezoning for Proposed Georgia Data Center Campus
Residents in Coweta County, Georgia, are fighting Project Sail, a proposed $17 billion hyperscale data center campus requiring major amounts of electricity and water. County commissioners approved rezoning the site, prompting lawsuits and a petition drive that gathered more than 14,800 signatures to seek a public vote reversing the decision.
Project Sail is planned for an 800-acre tract in Coweta County near Newnan, Georgia. The proposed $17 billion hyperscale data center campus would include 13 buildings and is estimated to require about 900 megawatts of electricity and 9 million gallons of water. Prologis, the project developer, says the development would transform the area and generate tax revenue.
Coweta County commissioners approved rezoning the rural property for industrial use by a 3-2 vote in April. Residents including Ron Bockrath, Quilliam Barber and other neighbors have opposed the project over its potential effects on rural land, water supplies, climate and household electricity costs. Bockrath and neighbors filed two lawsuits challenging the rezoning, while Citizens for Rural Coweta submitted more than 14,800 signatures for a home-rule petition that could lead to an election on repealing the county action.