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Residents press Clayton County commissioners to tighten oversight as data‑center projects move forward
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Summary
At the April 21 Clayton County meeting, multiple residents urged commissioners to enforce a moratorium on data centers and demanded clearer coordination with municipal agencies after blasting and construction activity in Forest Park and nearby neighborhoods.
Several residents told the Clayton County Board of Commissioners on April 21 that the county’s temporary moratorium on data‑center development is being undermined by projects already moving forward in neighboring jurisdictions.
The most pointed testimony came from Zach Parker, a resident who said the county’s pause on siting data centers ‘‘means one thing — you acknowledge the risk. You acknowledge uncertainty. You acknowledge that you were not ready’’ and asked the board what coordination exists between Clayton County and entities such as the Forest Park Urban Redevelopment Agency.
The concern echoed an earlier statement from Clifford Pellegrini of Forest Park, who urged commissioners to ‘‘ask questions’’ about closed‑loop cooling claims and warned that data centers ‘‘are gonna blow through a lot of water’’ and could push ‘‘electric bills…sky high.’’
Demetrius Collins, a real‑estate agent, described inspection of nearby construction sites where he said blasting had cracked foundations and sidewalks on new homes. ‘‘If these data centers are destroying these people’s homes, what are you gonna actually do for them?’’ he asked the board.
Chair (speaker 1) told speakers the board had enacted a moratorium ‘‘to look into [data centers] a lot more’’ and confirmed the moratorium is not permanent. Still, several speakers said local projects — notably in Forest Park — appear to be advancing despite the county’s stated pause. ‘‘The county says we need to slow down. The city and URA say we’re moving forward anyway, and the public gets steamrolled in between,’’ Parker said.
Commissioners agreed to follow up. Chair said she would speak with concerned residents after the meeting and the board scheduled additional outreach related to Conley Road rezoning requests raised by neighbors. The meeting record shows no county action to override Forest Park approvals at this session; speakers asked for clearer communication and a county‑level policy to govern data‑center siting.
Next steps: the board signaled intent to meet with residents and staff to clarify moratorium language and intergovernmental coordination; no formal county policy change was adopted at this meeting.
