Coweta County residents clash over comprehensive‑plan update and proposed 'Project Sale' data center

Coweta County commissioners heard hours of public comment Tuesday as residents debated the draft comprehensive plan and an emerging proposal known as “Project Sale,” a large technology‑park/data‑center development proposed on land near Plant Yates.

Planning staff presented the second public hearing on the five‑year comprehensive plan update, which staff says is intended as a policy guide rather than an ordinance. Development and planning manager Teresa Crow said the draft condenses the previous plan into a streamlined document based on a year of public engagement and prioritizes themes including housing affordability, trails, rural preservation and a possible voluntary Transfer of Development Rights program. Crow said the county plans to accept final public comments through April 7 and expects to return to the board May 5 to request transmittal for state and regional review, with adoption targeted before an October deadline.

The public‑hearing period turned into an extended forum on Project Sale, a proposed technology campus that developers say is suited to the site because of nearby transmission and power infrastructure. Supporters argued the project would create construction and long‑term skilled jobs and increase revenue for schools, first responders and county services.

"Placing a technology campus near existing power infrastructure is not simply a financial decision," said Skin Edge, a resident who supports the project, noting Plant Yates and adjoining industrial parcels. Brian Deal of Atlas Development, representing the developer, told the board "more than half the site will remain preserved" and said Prologis (the end user named by the developer) will cover infrastructure costs and not pass them to local taxpayers.

Opponents countered that rezoning rural conservation land to industrial would harm the county’s rural character, reduce property values for nearby homeowners and create environmental and public‑health risks they said are associated with data‑center operations. "This plan locks us into the state's smart‑growth machine," said Maxwell Britton, a District 1 resident, arguing the draft favors grant‑driven state standards over local property rights. John Kurtz, another resident, raised air‑quality and noise concerns and urged the board to scrutinize health‑risk claims and speaker disclosures.

Commissioners and staff repeatedly noted limits on local authority: during a separate zoning debate earlier in the meeting, county counsel referenced the Telecommunications Act of 1996 as an example of federal limits on local decision‑making in telecommunications matters. Crow and staff also emphasized that tools described in the plan—such as TDRs or small‑area studies at I‑85 interchanges—would require subsequent ordinance changes and individual public hearings before altering zoning.

What’s next: The draft comprehensive‑plan documents are posted online for public review; staff asked for final comments by April 7 and signaled a May 5 appearance to request transmittal for state review. Several speakers at Tuesday’s hearing noted a separate rezoning consideration for Project Sale is expected on the board’s calendar, and speakers on both sides urged commissioners to weigh the plan’s long‑term trade‑offs before voting on any specific rezoning.

Sources: Presentation by Teresa Crow (development and planning manager) and the public‑comment record at the March 17 board meeting. Commissioner action on any Project Sale rezoning is a separate proceeding and was not decided at this meeting.