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Residents urge caution on data centers and local rezonings at Atlanta zoning committee
Summary
Multiple residents told the Zoning Committee they oppose data centers and some rezonings, citing higher utility costs, inadequate neighborhood outreach and retaining-wall safety concerns; the committee closed public comment and moved several items to the Zoning Review Board for hearings.
Residents used the Zoning Committee public-comment period to voice broad opposition to data centers and to question neighborhood outreach on several pending projects.
Amber A. Robinson, City of Atlanta Department of Law, opened the procedural portion by telling the committee: "We would ask that public comment not be concerning a particular paper on the agenda that is pending the zoning review board public hearing." The guidance reiterated that specific-address objections should be given at the Zoning Review Board hearing for items already pending there.
Several speakers raised concerns about data centers sited near MARTA stations and the possibility that those uses would increase utility and energy bills for nearby residents. "I do want to speak just broadly in opposition to data centers...the surrounding residents are the ones who experience an increase in their utility bills," said Louise Bailey, a first-time speaker. Ian Zierang, an Oakland City resident, asked the committee to consider BeltLine- and MARTA-adjacent land use as part of future planning.
Johnny Floyd, long-time Pittsburgh Neighborhood Association chair, said outreach to adjacent neighborhoods was inadequate and criticized prior meetings, stating, "Out of 35, it was 32 white," to describe the composition of a meeting he attended. The committee did not adjudicate that claim during the session; staff offered to meet with Floyd after the meeting.
Other speakers, including Beulah Colbert and Kadesha McDonald, urged that neighborhoods be improved rather than layered with new uses. McDonald raised a site-specific safety concern about a retaining wall on a sloped parcel that she said had not been addressed; the transcript records her objection but no committee remediation in-session.
Chair closed public comment before moving to the consent agenda. Committee members later reminded the public that referral of items to the Zoning Review Board "officially opens up community comment and feedback," signaling that objectors may present specific concerns at those hearings.
Next steps: Items that the committee referred to the ZRB will be scheduled for hearings where specific addresses and project plans can be discussed on the record.
