By: Rut Labrada 

Lowndes Residents Urge the County for Transparency Regarding a Proposed AI Data Center.

Lowndes County residents call for transparency from the Lowndes County Board of Commissioners, as concerns regarding a proposed artificial intelligence (AI) data center on Coleman Road, near the Foxborough subdivision, continue to spread throughout the county. 

The project is being spearheaded by lawyer and businessman Pope Langdale the III, who is working with AI infrastructure provider DC BLOX, to the build the center in Valdosta. 

On Friday, March 6, Lowndes Citizens Against Data Centers (LCAD) sent an open letter to the board calling for a moratorium on the proposed AI data center until residents can gather more information on the matter. 

A moratorium is a temporary freeze or suspension on a specific activity or law to give time for a resolution to be created that will address existing concerns. 

According to the letter, “It is in the best interest of our community to enact a moratorium until a data center ordinance has been developed, until a community benefit agreement exists with the company building the data center, and until we have been able to address the following concerns of citizens in our area…” 

The letter went on to list community concerns about possible water and light pollution, increased electricity bills, and the overall impact that the data center could have on residents of the Foxborough subdivision. It also called for the formation of a committee of both citizens and government officials to ensure that necessary ordinances are put in place to protect residents. 

Lowndes County addressed the topic in a Facebook post on March 9, stating that while the land was rezoned last July, no official plans have been submitted or approved to move forward with building the data center. 

According to the county, there is currently only an ordinance addressing general light manufacturing standards, but it agrees that this does not adequately address all needs related to the AI data center. 

The county’s post also mentioned that going forward with such a project would require further research and a Development of Regional Impact (DRI) study, a process that would determine the possible impact that a large-scale development, like an AI data center, could have on the county and surrounding areas. 

“In an effort to understand this information firsthand, Lowndes County is planning on making site visits to other projects, continuing conversations with interested stake holders-both for and against and reviewing ordinances that have been adopted in other communities that have faced challenges associated with data centers,” read the post.  

LCAD organizer and affected Foxborough resident Joel Dion said that while he was grateful for the county’s reassurances, he felt that they did not fully address LCAD’s concerns. 

“There was the ask for an opportunity to put together a board that worked with both the commissioners and community members of Lowndes County, and nothing that I saw in the post really pointed to that,” he said. 

According to Dion, LCAD would like the board to be more transparent about who they are in contact with and where the research regarding the data center is being sourced from. 

“When we start seeing the list of the people they’re talking to, and if there is a compilation of all the research they’ve done that is available for the public to also see, then I think that’ll be better. But it’s still too early to know what’s happening. I don’t feel any better or safer until we start seeing the truth of what’s happening,” he said. 

For more information about the proposed data center, look at the previous news story: https://vsuspectator.com/2026/03/04/ai-data-center-story/