Clayton County commissioners reject request to abandon Dunn Road right-of-way near proposed data center

The Clayton County Board of Commissioners on July 1 declined to approve a resolution that would have abandoned about 1.862 acres of Dunn Road right-of-way adjacent to a proposed data center, following a public hearing and debate over tax impacts, site conditions and infrastructure needs.

The resolution would have converted the county-owned right-of-way to private property for the benefit of the adjacent property owner, TA Ellenwood, the developer of the proposed data center. A county staff member introduced the item and the board held a public hearing during the meeting.

During the hearing, Jordan Edwards, speaking for TA Ellenwood, described Dunn Road as “essentially a driveway,” saying it is about 20 feet wide, serves only property owned by the developer and has been used for dumping. Edwards also told the board the developer “will be paying fair market value for it.”

Resident Mickey Garber said any transfer should depend on whether the developer would pay property taxes. Garber asked whether the company would pay taxes comparable to other property owners and warned he would oppose the transfer if it did not lead to tax revenue for the county. A resident who identified herself as Alexis Alexander also questioned why nearly 1.8 acres would be transferred and asked whether the public had been given full notice.

Commissioners pressed staff and the developer on details. Commissioner Damon Davis asked what type of data center was planned because “we don’t know the amount of water that is going to be necessary” and other resource impacts. Jordan Edwards and a county representative said the data center approved in zoning was a cloud-storage facility using a closed-loop cooling system; as described to the board, that design “means that once it's filled up, it does not consume further water to cool the facility,” and ongoing water use would be limited to employee facilities and landscape irrigation.

Board members also discussed tax incentives. County staff and the developer confirmed the project received an incentive package from the Clayton County Development Authority; the speaker said the project will be under a 10-year abatement period. The board was told the project “will be paying taxes even during the abatement period,” but that full tax payments would not apply for the duration of the abatement; specific year-by-year amounts were not provided at the meeting.

After discussion and questions, the board voted on the resolution. The chair called for the question; commissioners answered in voice vote. According to the record, the motion failed: the chair recorded “All opposed, nay. So that's 3. Nay. Alright. The, nays have it and the motion fails.”

The outcome leaves the right-of-way in public ownership. The record shows the developer had requested abandonment because it owns all parcels fronting Dunn Road and the road “serves no public purpose other than the owners of the parcels,” according to staff.

The board’s action concluded the public hearing on the item. Staff indicated any future transfers or changes to the status of the property would require additional board action.

Votes and immediate next steps were not specified beyond the vote to deny the abandonment; no implementation dates were set during the meeting.