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Coweta commissioners clarify countywide data-center ordinance as residents urge rejection of Project Sale rezoning
Summary
At the Sept. 4 Coweta County Board of Commissioners meeting, the chair clarified that a draft countywide data-center ordinance is separate from a pending rezoning for 'Project Sale.' Dozens of residents testified against the rezoning, citing water use, noise, traffic and lack of transparency; no rezoning hearing has been scheduled.
The Coweta County Board of Commissioners on Sept. 4 reiterated that staff is drafting a countywide data-center ordinance that would apply to future data centers in unincorporated parts of the county, and emphasized that the ordinance process is separate from any individual rezoning petition for the site known as 'Project Sale.' The chair said public comments on Sept. 11 should address the ordinance draft specifically and noted the rezoning public hearing for Project Sale has not been scheduled.
The chair said, "The data center ordinance that is currently being drafted by staff and the commissioners is a countywide ordinance that once approved will apply to all future data center developments or projects in the unincorporated areas of the county. It is not being drafted specific to Project Sale." The county posted a web page for feedback on the ordinance; the transcript recorded the page as "cowita.ga.us," and staff said citizens may submit attachments and comments through that portal.
Public comment during the Sept. 4 meeting focused almost entirely on Project Sale and on classifying large data centers as heavy industry rather than light industrial. Jimmy Newman (District 2) urged the commission to "classify Project Sale as true heavy industrial," citing scale, power consumption and noise as distinguishing characteristics. Jennifer Michelle (District 4) told the board a single large data center "can consume millions of gallons of water every day" and said Coweta's water supply and public services are already strained; she urged the commission to reject rezoning that would allow such facilities near residential areas.
Donna Bowles, a lifelong Coweta resident, said some neighbors fear retaliation for speaking and accused commissioners of ignoring constituent concerns. Connie Litton read statements from neighbors who said construction could generate as many as 5,000 vehicle trips per day during a decade of work, raise blasting and foundation-damage concerns, put 350 large diesel generators near homes and increase light pollution.
Speakers expressing opposition asked the board to require data centers be sited in industrial zones away from homes. Several commenters also questioned the transparency of developer communications and of mailings that used county imagery; the chair noted mailers from outside groups had circulated and said mailers bearing the courthouse dome or county name are not necessarily county communications.
The board moved into executive session later in the meeting for real estate and personnel and reconvened with the chair reporting no action taken. The chair and staff again reminded residents that next week's called meeting/public hearing on Sept. 11 at 6 p.m. at the Fairgrounds is to continue receiving feedback on the draft data-center ordinance; formal proceedings on any Project Sale rezoning would be set as a separate public hearing when scheduled.
What happens next: The board invited public input specific to the ordinance at the Sept. 11 hearing; a rezoning public hearing for Project Sale was reported as not scheduled as of Sept. 4.
