Colleton County council holds first reading of moratorium on data-center approvals after residents raise water-use concerns

Colleton County Council on an unspecified May meeting day moved forward with the first reading of an ordinance placing a temporary moratorium on consideration of special exceptions, initial-use approvals and other land-use approvals for data centers after multiple residents raised questions about water use and local impacts.

The moratorium was introduced by the chair and carried on the council's voice vote, with the chair stating the motion and members responding in favor. The ordinance is a first reading and does not finalize long-term policy; it pauses new approvals while staff and the council review data and next steps.

Multiple public commenters urged the pause. A resident who identified himself later in public comment as Dean Harrimal said planning materials omitted key details about cooling systems and cooling-tower evaporation and asked the council to “pause, get the facts, have another public meeting, talk about it, and see what we can do. But don't pass it before we know what's needed.”

Another resident, identified in the record as Miss Smith and describing an environmental consulting background, urged a moratorium and said the county should treat its land like a business: “If they want what we got, at least make them pay out the nose for it,” she said, and warned that approving projects without full review risks “setting a precedent for future county councils to give away a farm.”

Commenters focused on two technical concerns: whether proposed facilities truly use closed-loop cooling systems that do not withdraw groundwater and how cooling towers’ evaporation was represented in applicant materials. The meeting record shows residents saying evaporation and tower impacts were not included in the materials they reviewed; the council did not accept or reject those technical assertions during the public-comment period but took the step of advancing the moratorium to allow further examination.

County staff earlier described the planning process for land-use updates and said planning commission hearings would follow any staff digest of public input; staff also signaled that the timeline for formal adoption would likely extend into the fall as consultants and commission review materials. The moratorium is intended to allow technical review and public outreach to continue before additional approvals are considered.

The ordinance carried on a voice vote at first reading. The council will return to the item in subsequent meetings; if adopted after additional readings or hearings, the moratorium could affect pending or near-term permit applications for data centers.