Athens-Clarke County adopts new data-center rules, sends ordinance back to Planning Commission with added criteria

Athens-Clarke County commissioners on April 7 adopted an ordinance to regulate data centers across municipal zoning districts and directed the Planning Commission to incorporate additional approval criteria before future permits are issued.

The ordinance, presented by title as part of a larger code amendment package, adds definitions for “data center,” “closed-loop system,” “open-loop system,” “onsite power generation” and other technical terms; inserts “Data Center” into multiple zoning use tables; and establishes three review thresholds (Level I, II and III) tied to numeric performance thresholds for water, wastewater, traffic, vibration, solid waste, noise, glare and stormwater. A motion to adopt the ordinance and to return the data-center ordinance to the Planning Commission with specific directions passed by an eight-vote majority.

Commissioner Myers moved the motion, and Commissioner Thornton seconded. The additional criteria the Commission asked the Planning Commission to require include an energy consumption plan with annual reporting (including peak-demand estimates and power-allocation documentation), a water consumption and sustainability plan requiring a true closed-loop cooling system when feasible, disclosure of how data centers will be prioritized during constrained-resource periods, limits on size and clustering, a community benefits agreement option for nearby residents, a decommissioning and electronics-recycling plan, and stronger screening and buffer requirements for properties within 400 feet of residential or agricultural zoning (the Commission also directed the Planning Commission to consider changing that distance to 500 feet). Generator testing is limited to 9 a.m.–5 p.m., and generator use is restricted to backup/emergency only except during commissioning or testing.

The ordinance text submitted to the Commission also requires Level III uses — which explicitly list “Data Center” — to undergo the special-use permit process and to submit pre- and post-construction reports prepared or verified by a licensed professional engineer, plus annual reporting on operational performance measurements. The amendments change parking and staffing metrics for data centers (one space per employee on the largest shift) and add binding site-plan requirements and reporting timelines tied to certificates of occupancy.

Residents filled much of the public-comment period with concerns about water and power use, environmental impacts and neighborhood effects. Dr. Tawana Smith-Mattox and several other speakers opposed data-center siting in or near residential areas; Alex Sams, chair of the Future Land Use Steering Committee, made comments supporting the Future Land Use Map in a separate portion of the meeting. Danielle Gilmer was among a small set of speakers who expressed support for data centers. The Commission did not conduct an extended public hearing on this ordinance text at the dais beyond the recorded public-comment list but built several of the requested technical and reporting requirements directly into its motion for further Planning Commission work.

The action requires the Planning Commission to reconvene on the ordinance with the added approval criteria and return a revised draft consistent with the directives the Commission approved. The ordinance as amended will be codified into the Athens-Clarke County code and becomes effective once the Mayor approves it or as otherwise provided by the County Charter.