Ware County amends zoning code to regulate data centers and require closed-loop cooling

Planning staff proposed text amendments to Articles 3 and 7 of the Ware County zoning ordinance to add definitions for a 'closed loop cooling system' and a 'data center,' to exclude cryptocurrency data centers from that definition, and to make data centers a conditional use in several industrial and agricultural zoning districts subject to noise and buffer requirements drawn from the county's cryptocurrency/data-mining ordinance (Ware County Code Chapter 68). Staff said closed-loop cooling would be required and that where a data center adjoins residential property, the Planning Commission or County Commission could require additional vegetative buffering.