Belmont Glen Faces A New Neighbor: OpenAI Data Center

Residents of the Belmont Glen subdivision in Guyton, Effingham County, Georgia, are voicing strong opposition to Project Camellia, a 1,400-acre OpenAI data center campus slated for construction directly across from their neighborhood and two elementary schools. Many residents, like Elizabeth Fisher and Crystal Hayes, express fears of losing their community's tranquility due to noise, light, heat, and electromagnetic field (EMF) pollution, along with increased construction traffic.

The proposed data center, which plans to draw 3.2 gigawatts of energy, has also raised concerns about its impact on the local power grid and potential health implications, particularly for children. While county officials, including manager Tim Callanan and District 2 Commissioner Roger Burdette, assert the industrial land predates much of the residential development and that a data center is a "lighter industrial use" compared to alternatives like logistics warehouses or asphalt plants, residents like Raymond Carver dispute this, having filed a lawsuit against the county over a 2025 zoning change that permitted data centers in the area.

OpenAI has committed to mitigation efforts, including a closed-loop cooling system, a 300-foot buffer, an existing berm, an acoustic wall, and noise monitoring. An OpenAI spokesperson stated that the company is collaborating with an engineering firm on a sound study to inform campus design. Effingham County is also working on a data center ordinance or development agreement to formalize these commitments. However, residents are asking for greater transparency, public input, and protections for property values, pointing to "for sale" signs already appearing in the subdivision. They believe the lack of public process highlights a failure of Georgia's constitutional development authorities.