Citizens from Bartow County and beyond are signing a Change.org petition to oppose a data center proposed for construction on Barnsley Garden Road. As of Thursday night, 671 verified signatures have been collected since it went online on Feb. 22. Several are promoting the petition online to sway decision-makers regarding a zoning change on March 24.
The proposed change is moving the land from agricultural use to industrial use. The petition can be found at http://chng.it/HmSxz26mHL
“This potential land use change poses a significant threat to our local community and ecololgy, disrupting the natural balance our community enjoys,” the petition, drafted by Allison Cauthen, states.
The 4.5 billion data center, called Project Springbank, is proposed by Atlas Development LLC. It will be located on Barnsley Garden Road near Perkins Mountian Road, southeast of Adairsville. The center will include six buildings totaling 2.27 square feet. The project is slated for completion in December 2031.
For those signing the petition, the root issue is saving farmland to use for agriculture.
“As the stewards of our environment, it is our responsibility to protect our agricultural lands due to the essential role they play in sustaining biodiversity, offering fresh produce, and contributing to our local economy,” the petition states.
“Agricultural lands are rapidly diminishing, with an estimated 11 million acres of farmland and ranchland converted to urban and highly developed uses between 2001 and 2016, according to the American Farmland Trust.”
The strain the data center will put on utilities is another issue.
While it will use closed-loop technology to reduce water and sewer use, it will use an enormous amount of electricity. The facility is expected to use 432 megawatts, which is about the same amount of power used by 324,000 homes.
Georgia Power has already raised rates several times to accommodate the data center usage with the Georgia General Assembly considering legislation to halt rate increases on residences and small businesses to pay for electricity and infrastructure needed to serve large-capacity data centers.