Effingham County to vote on OpenAI data center site plan

by Steven Glover

EFFINGHAM COUNTY, Ga. (WTOC) - While voters across the country head to the polls on Election Day, Effingham County commissioners will cast a critical vote of their own Tuesday on the future of Project Camellia.

The Effingham County Board of Commissioners is scheduled to vote on whether to approve a formal site plan application submitted by developer Octans GA LLC, an affiliate of OpenAI.

The vote comes after months of public hearings, resident protests, legal challenges, and an abrupt postponement requested by the developer in mid-September.

According to county agenda documents, the formal site plan outlines OpenAI’s multi-billion-dollar Project Camellia data center campus spanning approximately 1,347 acres across two parcels in the Savannah Gateway Industrial Hub near Rincon. The proposed layout includes direct roadway access from Effingham Parkway, Gateway Parkway, and Hodgeville Road.

Campus Blueprints and Footprint

While early conceptual filings previously referenced a four-building development, the formal engineering site plan submitted for approval details a larger six-building campus.

Key specifications outlined in the county staff report include:

Six data center buildings: Designated DC01 through DC06, each planned at approximately 42 feet in height.
Support facilities: A 100,000-square-foot warehouse and a 75,000-square-foot operations building.
Electrical infrastructure: Three on-site electrical substations, associated electrical yards, and industrial chiller equipment to cool the servers.
Parking capacity: A total of 1,608 parking spaces across the complex, including 250 spaces dedicated to each data center building.

To address ongoing neighborhood pushback regarding proximity, the plans incorporate a 300-foot vegetative buffer adjacent to Agricultural-Residential (AR-1) properties, a 150-foot buffer along commercial zones, and a 25-foot buffer bordering neighboring industrial tracts.

Environmental Considerations and Staff Recommendation

The agenda packet also incorporates environmental notes and inter-agency comments from the state’s regional impact review.

County GIS mapping confirms portions of the site lie within freshwater wetlands and FEMA Zone AE floodplains, which carry a 1% annual chance of flooding. The documentation also references state wildlife evaluations regarding documented protected species in the watershed, including the state-protected Hooded Pitcherplant, as well as water resource concerns submitted by downstream agencies and conservation groups.

Despite unresolved lawsuits and calls from residents for a full development moratorium, county planning and development staff has officially recommended the site plan for approval. Staff concluded that the application satisfies all current standards under the county’s I-1 (Industrial) zoning classification.

The Effingham County Board of Commissioners is scheduled to take up the vote during its regular meeting Tuesday at 5 p.m. at the Effingham County Administrative Complex in Springfield.