A developer wants to build a 3.34 million-square-foot data center campus on 388 acres off Mike Padgett Highway. The site needs a rezoning first. Here is what was filed.

A developer has proposed a 3.34 million-square-foot data center campus on about 388 acres in south Augusta. The project is called the Nixon Technology Center.

Augusta’s planning staff filed the project with the state Monday, Oct. 12. The filing went to the Georgia Department of Community Affairs as a Development of Regional Impact, a review the state requires for projects big enough to affect neighboring communities.

What the filing says

The initial information form lists:

  • Size: a 3.34 million-square-foot data center campus on one parcel of about 388 acres in southeast Richmond County
  • Addresses: 1550 and 1538 Four H Club Road, and 3806 Mike Padgett Highway
  • Developer: 3 G Investments LLC of Woodbridge, Virginia
  • Property owner: the Nixon Trusts
  • Completion: 2028 and 2029 for the work in this filing, and 2029 for the whole project

The form does not say who would run the data center, how much power it would need or how many people it would employ.

What the city would have to approve

The developer is asking the city for:

  • a rezoning
  • sewer and water service
  • permits
  • site development approval

The rezoning matters most. On the city’s zoning map, the first set of coordinates in the filing falls in land zoned A, for agriculture.

Augusta’s new data center rules ban data centers in all residential and agricultural districts. The Augusta Commission approved those rules Sept. 15, according to the city’s zoning rewrite page.

Under the ordinance (PDF), any development of 500,000 square feet or more counts as a data center campus. A campus is allowed only in a Heavy Industrial district, and only by special exception approved by the Augusta Commission.

The ordinance also sets these rules:

  • a buffer of at least 500 feet next to residential or agricultural land, which a planted berm can cut to 300 feet
  • noise limits of 65 decibels by day and 60 decibels at night, with a noise test before construction and another within 60 days of opening
  • air-cooled or closed-loop cooling only, with open-loop and water-consuming systems banned

What happens next

The state review is run by the Central Savannah River Area Regional Commission. Under the state’s rules (PDF), it works like this:

  • The regional commission has five days from a complete form to decide whether the project is a Development of Regional Impact.
  • Neighboring governments and other affected parties then get a 15-day comment period.
  • The regional commission writes a report within five days after comments close.
  • The whole review should take no more than 30 days unless it is extended.

The report is advisory. The rules say it cannot bind the city’s own decision. The city can keep working on the rezoning during the review but cannot give final approval until the review is done.

As of Thursday, the state’s register listed the project as “Initial Form Submitted.” The second, more detailed form had not been filed.

What it means for you

  • No hearing is scheduled yet. A rezoning goes to the Augusta Planning Commission and then the Augusta Commission, with public hearings at both. We will post the dates when the city publishes an agenda.
  • Follow the state review on the Nixon Technology Center DRI page. The regional commission’s report will be posted there.
  • Look up the land on the city’s AugustaStats maps to see the current zoning around Four H Club Road and Mike Padgett Highway.
  • Learn how rezonings work in our building permits and zoning guide.
  • Contact your commissioner through our who to call at City Hall page.

The citywide zoning rewrite is a separate process. The Planning Commission takes it up at 2 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 21. Our zoning rewrite story has the details.