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by DYLAN NOLAN
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Former Colleton County, South Carolina zoning board chairman Sam Bethay was replaced this week at a contentious meeting of the Lowcountry county council. Bethay, a local engineer with extensive experience in development, was replaced by Mark Wysong, who is allegedly close to county council members eager to fast-track the controversial construction of a data center on the Ashepoo River basin.
Developers – led by Eagle Rock Partners – want to put an 859-acre data center near Green Pond, S.C. The facility would employ around 450 people once all nine buildings were constructed, they maintain.
Sources familiar with Bethay’s thinking said he was opposed to the project on the grounds that the county’s comprehensive plan and current zoning definitions do not include provisions for the construction of data centers.
Instead, the proposed site was intended for low-density dwellings and agriculture – and could not have been used for a data center, at least not until Colleton county council surreptitiously passed an ordinance prior to the holidays providing for a “special exemption” on the property. If approved, this exemption would facilitate the construction of data centers in agriculturally zoned areas – meaning it would require a single vote of the zoning board.
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Bethay effectively neutralized council’s attempt to accelerate the development – postponing a vote after thousands of members of the public expressed horror at the idea of putting a data center on top of an extremely ecologically sensitive area.
The data center’s proposed location, the ACE Basin, is one of the largest tracts of undeveloped land on America’s East Coast and is an essential watershed for the Palmetto State’s Lowcountry region.
As we previously reported, Eagle Rock Partners recently withdrew plans for a data center in Jones County, Georgia after facing similar backlash.
The decision to delay the vote on the special exemption may have given the public more time to make it’s opinions known, but it also gave council the opportunity to replace him at the expiration of his term. Sources tell FITSNews Wysong is likely to adopt a different view of the matter than his predecessor.
This is a developing story… stay tuned for updates as more information becomes available.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR…
(Via: Travis Bell)
Dylan Nolan is the director of special projects at FITSNews. He graduated from the Darla Moore school of business in 2021 with an accounting degree. Got a tip or story idea for Dylan? Email him here. You can also engage him socially @DNolan2000.
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3 comments
The Board of Zoning Appeals is a quasi-judicial body authorized to consider applications for certain identified land uses that are not allowed by right, but by Special Exception, if approved by the BZA. It is not a “Special Exemption.” The BZA is also authorized to consider applications for Variance from the zoning ordinance, but that is not what is under consideration in this case. Special Exception, not Special Exemption. There are criterion that must be met for the Board to approve a SE, by making findings of fact and conclusions of law. This process is authorized by the SC Code of Laws empowering local governments to engage in land use planning and zoning enforcement of zoning ordinances. The Special Exception criterion are not based on amount of FILOT (taxes) paid or fingers in the air to public opinion. Even if granted, the Special Exception can be appealed to the SC Court of Common Pleas.
What ecological harm does a data center cause? They certainly aren’t manufacturing anything that emits toxic chemicals or exhaust. About the only thing I can think of is that it might use an inordinate amount of water for its cooling systems – but the article doesn’t elaborate. Most people also don’t realize the harm caused by the fertilizers used by farms that then leach into the water table and the rivers, but we don’t do much to restrict that.
From all that I have heard and read most of these type data centers use much less people to operate them than the developers
claim. Most that have been built and are up and running use 40-60 employees not even close to the 450 employees these developers have thrown out there. It would be wise to not count on this as a big employer. Also this area does not have the electrical capability at this time to even supply the power to operate one.
With the giant mega farms using all the water that they need plus the large amount a data center will require could well dry up the rivers in that area. Surely there has to be a better place that to build a data center than so close to the ACE area which is one of the very few pristine natural areas that South Carolina has.