As Jones County leaders weigh data center decision, residents push back

A proposal to rezone more than 600 acres of land in Jones County for a data center is attracting pushback from local residents.

The proposal, which includes taking parcels of land from agricultural to commercial zoning, is being pushed by Eagle Rock Partners, an investment group that’s behind other controversial data center projects in Middle Georgia.

Residents say the proposed rezoning goes against the county’s comprehensive plan and worry officials don’t have enough information to make an informed decision.

“Data centers have real, lasting, devastating negative impacts on the communities that they parasitically feed off of,” said Alex Leholz, a Jones County resident. “These are not theoretical concerns.”

The Jones County Board of Commissioners will vote on whether or not to rezone the land.

Residents say a data center would disrupt the county’s character

Jones County residents who oppose the data center say a project like that would be inconsistent with the county’s comprehensive plan.

Lefholz said Jones County — which is largely rural, agricultural land — doesn’t make sense as a location for a data center. She said it’s especially concerning that the project is eyeing land that’s zoned for agriculture.

“The purpose of this district — agricultural and rural — is to preserve the rural character of much of Jones County, to protect against the adverse effects of premature development, to encourage the development of rural areas in an orderly manner,” Leholz said.

Others expressed concerns that the data center plan doesn’t align with Jones County’s development goals.

Fletcher Sams — executive director of the Altamaha Riverkeeper, a nonprofit organization that works to protect waterways in the Altamaha watershed, which includes Jones County — said the data center doesn’t match the county’s stated goals for creating jobs and growing the local economy.

According to the Jones County Comprehensive Plan, adopted in 2022, emphasizes attracting manufacturing jobs.

However, the Jones County Board of Commissioners approved new zoning ordinances in September allowing for data centers that meet certain conditions to be constructed in C-1 zoning districts, signaling an openness to the projects.

Jason Rizner, the county administrator, told The Telegraph shortly after the measures were passed that they were proactive.

Lefholz said allowing data centers in C-1 zoning districts doesn’t make sense, as those areas are intended for more traditional retail and business districts.

According to the Jones County Code of Ordinances, C-1 zoning is defined as a “neighborhood commercial district.” The code defines this as an area “to encourage the orderly development of shopping areas which are primarily oriented toward serving the day-to-day shopping needs of persons living near these shopping areas.”

Opponents worry the county doesn’t have enough info

Residents opposing the project say officials should wait to make a decision until the data center proposal has been reviewed by a third party.

Data centers are normally required to undergo review due to state rules around developments of regional impact. Those developments are large-scale projects deemed to have impacts that will ripple beyond their immediate jurisdictions, according to the Georgia Department of Community Affairs.

However, due to the enormous influx of data center projects across the state, the Department of Community Affairs paused reviews of those developments in July while it examined its evaluation process, according to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

The department said at the time that the move isn’t a moratorium, as projects can still move forward at the local level, but then later said data centers were still part of the DRI review process.

The lack of a DRI report has caused issues for Eagle Rock Partners before.

The firm was also behind a proposal in Twiggs County to rezone nearly 300 acres of land for a data center. The measure was approved unanimously by the Twiggs County Board of Commissioners on Sept. 18, but residents sued, alleging the county broke its own rules by not obtaining a DRI report before approving a project of that scale. The matter is still being decided in court.

Ken Loeber, a partner with Eagle Rock, previously said the group followed all processes and regulations required by the state in its Twiggs County project.

The Telegraph reached out to Eagle Rock Partners for comment on this story.