Jones County commissioners adopt comprehensive-plan text amendment to set standards for data centers

The Jones County Board of Commissioners on Sept. 16 adopted a text amendment to the county's comprehensive plan that establishes countywide standards for data centers and prescribes when additional environmental study is required.

The amendment, approved on a 4-1 vote, adopts staff'recommended language on environmental impact studies and other staff comments that planning staff and the planning and zoning commission recommended earlier this year. Commissioner comments and public testimony focused on noise, water use, and siting; the board declined a proposed amendment that would have narrowed when the county could require additional environmental study.

Why it matters: The text change does not approve any specific data center application. Instead, it creates a regulatory framework and standards the county would apply should an operator file a conditional-use application. Commissioners and planning staff said the change is intended to ensure the county can evaluate and, where necessary, require further study of environmental, cultural or community impacts before a project proceeds.

Planning staff presentation and board discussion

Tim Petrovsky, staff member, told the board the amendment is a countywide change to the comprehensive plan and is not an approval of any particular project. He said the planning commission recommended approval of the text change with staff comments and an additional section to increase environmental-impact-study standards.

A commissioner who introduced the motion said there is no data-center application before the county and cautioned media and social media coverage that suggested otherwise: "we do not have an application for a data center, so we're not approving a data center," the commissioner said. The same commissioner listed common concerns planning officials and commissioners found in other counties'experience: "the noise, the light, the taxing on our resources, the taxing on our utilities," and said the draft language addresses those items.

Several other commissioners praised planning staff for site visits to existing data centers and for drafting protective language. One commissioner said the county's industrial park (about 1,000 acres along state route 57) would be the preferred location "if we have an application and have an appetite to approve one." Another commissioner said the board and staff should be cautious but business-friendly in permitting decisions.

Public comment

Debbie McClendon, a resident of Camelot Road, told the board she supports protections for neighbors and asked them to account for the difference between intermittent noise (for example, highway sounds) and continuous noise from data-center equipment: "Having constant conversation would even be annoying," she said, adding that continuous noise affects sleep.

Travis Griffin, a local resident, said a framework is appropriate but warned that the county should not create a "glide path" that automatically produces approvals. "We want us to look at individual applications, you know, with a fine tooth comb to make sure they are what's best for our community and not just because we have a regulatory framework to approve that somebody makes an application, they get approval," Griffin said. Griffin also raised watershed and well-water concerns for rural properties.

Conditional use and water-cooling standards

Board members and staff discussed how the county will review future proposals. One commissioner explained the county intends to treat data centers as a conditional use in the applicable zoning districts, which means any application would go first to the planning and zoning board and then to the Board of Commissioners for final action. That commissioner said the conditional-use approval would be tied to the proposed use: if the use changes, the approval would not automatically transfer.

Staff and a resident also addressed water use. A resident and staff member noted modern data centers often use closed-loop cooling systems; one person described those systems as filled once and recirculating rather than continuously drawing large volumes of fresh water.

Votes at a glance

- Adopt text amendment to the comprehensive plan establishing standards for data centers (staff-recommended option for environmental-impact studies, including all staff comments). Motion: adopt text amendment (mover: not specified; second: not specified). Vote: 4 yes, 1 no. Outcome: approved.

- Transit operating grant application (FY 2027): motion to approve annual state and federal grant application for county transit service. Motion: approve application (mover: not specified; second: not specified). Vote: unanimous. Outcome: approved.

- Postpone second-reading item amending purchase order, local purpose: Motion to postpone at the request of a board member who could not attend. Outcome: postponed by unanimous vote.

- Authorize RFP for government center parking-light upgrades: Motion to authorize issuance of an RFP for lighting upgrades; the item will return to the board for award. Outcome: approved (unanimous).

- Adjourn to executive session for real estate and personnel: Motion to go into executive session; outcome: approved (unanimous).

What the action does and what it does not do

The adopted text amendment sets standards that would apply to any future data-center conditional-use application, including baseline requirements and a mechanism for the county to require additional study where site-specific conditions indicate potentially significant environmental, cultural or community impacts. The amendment does not designate a site, authorize construction, or change zoning to allow a data center by-right.

Next steps and context

Planning staff will apply the new text when reviewing any future data-center conditional-use application. Commissioners said they expect individual proposals to return to planning and zoning for review and then to the board for a final decision.

The meeting also included routine items and citizen comments on stormwater and other local matters. The board recessed into an executive session on personnel and real estate at the end of the evening.