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Athens-Clarke County weighs new data-center rules as residents urge moratorium extension
Summary
Planning staff proposed zoning text amendments to treat data centers as automatic Level 3 special uses with detailed reporting, closed-loop cooling requirements and design standards. Residents and several commissioners urged extending the current moratorium (set to expire March 6) while staff and the Planning Commission refine criteria.
Athens-Clarke County planning staff presented a package of zoning text amendments on Feb. 17 intended to make data centers an explicit, automatically reviewed Level 3 industrial use and to add technical standards intended to protect local resources.
Planning Director Bruce Lonnie told the mayor and commission staff’s goal was to regulate the features the county controls — primarily water, stormwater and land-use impacts — and to require any data center to apply for a special-use permit so the county could impose binding site plans, conditions and annual performance reporting. ‘‘Data centers are being slotted as a Level 3 use in this proposal, so they will automatically be considered for special use,’’ Lonnie said, adding the ordinance would require closed-loop cooling systems and call for reporting on water, wastewater, noise, hazardous materials and phasing.
Why it matters: commissioners and many residents said the technical, environmental and equity impacts could be substantial. The county currently has a…
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