Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Zoning topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Athens holds hearings, first readings on data-center and battery storage zoning rules
Summary
Council held public hearings and conducted first readings to add definitions and zoning language for ‘Data Center, Enterprise,’ ‘Data Center, Non‑Enterprise’ and Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS); no public comments were offered and council debated where the uses should be allowed.
The Athens City Council opened and closed public hearings and took first readings March 23 on three zoning amendments that would add definitions and regulate data centers and battery energy storage systems.
City Planner Ronda Cockerham said public notices ran in the newspaper March 7 and the Planning & Zoning Commission recommended the definitions for each use. The proposed “Data Center, Enterprise” definition describes facilities owned, operated and used exclusively by a single entity for internal IT operations, distinguishing them from commercial colocation providers. During the first reading, Councilmember Bill Priestley asked that the special-use permit (SUP) requirement be removed from the chart for this use; staff responded that the use is allowed by right in other districts and that additional clarifying language had been added to the definition.
Council also reviewed the proposed “Data Center, Non‑Enterprise” definition, which covers buildings used for server housing, data storage and cloud or colocation services (including data and cryptocurrency mining). Planner Cockerham said the non‑enterprise data-center use would be permitted in the Industrial District with an SUP.
On Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS), the council heard a Planning & Zoning Commission–approved definition listing system components and infrastructure and noting the use would be allowed in the Industrial District with an SUP and excluded from Residential Districts. Mayor Aaron Smith opened each hearing; no members of the public spoke.
Each ordinance received its first reading and captions were read aloud; no final votes were taken at the meeting.
