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DeKalb delays data-center rules after hours-long public debate; planning staff to rewrite draft
Summary
After more than two hours of public comment and detailed staff presentation, DeKalb County commissioners moved to defer a draft data-center text amendment for 60 days to allow further edits and public review. Separately, a large data-center proposal on private property drew heavy neighborhood opposition and was also deferred for more study.
DeKalb County commissioners voted Tuesday to delay action for 60 days on a proposed text amendment that would create the county’s first formal standards for data centers and related development, following a lengthy staff presentation and a parade of residents urging stronger protections.
Planning senior planner Tricia Prevost told the board the county has seen a sharp increase in data-center interest and currently lacks standards. “So we’ve been working on this, data center ordinance this year, and, we’re excited to share with you our, our proposed regulations,” Prevost said during the presentation, which laid out three size classes (minor, major and campus) and new requirements such as closed-loop water cooling, energy-utility compliance letters, noise assessments and special land-use permits for larger facilities.
The proposal prompted broad public response at the zoning meeting. Claudette Leek of Renew DeKalb urged the commission to adopt stricter language and to treat the draft as an “insurance policy” that must protect communities from negative impacts. “The county needs to be in a proactive mode rather than a defensive position if and when data center applications are received,” Leek said.
Many residents — especially speakers from south and southeast DeKalb — asked the commission to ban large-scale “campus” facilities near neighborhoods, require stronger monitoring after facilities open, and place limits on water temperature discharges and generator testing. Gina Mangum, a long-time neighborhood activist, urged a longer deferral and clearer rules addressing blasting, site plans and a regional development impact study.
Commissioner Ted Terry framed the core point in staff’s draft: “The number 1 aspect of this text amendment is the most important part, and that’s the special land use permit,” he said, describing a process that would require public hearings, notifications and conditions for major and campus facilities. Terry and other commissioners said the moratorium the board previously adopted on new data-center applications must be paired with transparent, enforceable regulation.
After discussion, Commissioners voted to defer the text amendment for 60 days and asked staff to prepare a revised “draft 3” that will return to community councils and the planning commission and then to the Board of Commissioners at a public hearing on November 20. The motion to defer was made by Commissioner Ted Terry and seconded by Commissioner Davis Johnson; the motion passed unanimously.
Related proposal draws opposition. The meeting also included a separate county review of a specific large project that would place multiple data-center buildings and an electrical substation on a privately owned site off Loveless Place and Pine View Trail. Representatives for PCC DeKalb described the site plan, explained the project’s power and water strategies, and proposed additional measures — including a wider vegetative buffer and sound‑dampening fencing — to reduce impacts on adjacent neighborhoods.
Neighbors from Cedar Grove, Bouldercrest and surrounding subdivisions told commissioners they oppose industrial-scale data-center development in a Tier 5 portion of the Bouldercrest/Cedar Grove overlay that is designated primarily for residential uses. Several residents asked the commission to deny the project and to extend the data-center moratorium; others requested more time for the county’s zoning, environmental and traffic reviews.
Planning staff recommended a 60‑day deferral for the specific PCC DeKalb application to allow legal questions about required approvals and outstanding technical reviews to be resolved; the board voted to defer that item to the November 20 zoning meeting with a public hearing.
Why it matters: DeKalb is in a region actively recruiting data centers because of available power and fiber, but many residents worry that large facilities can strain water and electric systems, produce noise from backup generators, and change nearby neighborhoods’ character. The 60‑day deferral gives staff time to examine the draft’s noise, water and energy provisions, to respond to the Georgia Department of Community Affairs and other agencies that have signaled interest, and to integrate public comment.
What’s next: Staff will produce a revised ordinance for a November 20 public hearing and present draft guardrails on water use, energy-transmission coordination with Georgia Power, noise limits, required special land-use permits for major and campus facilities, and design/screening standards. The PCC DeKalb application returns the same day for a public hearing; staff flagged outstanding questions about legal authority, traffic and stormwater that must be answered before the board could consider a final vote.
