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Coffee County commission adopts zoning amendment to define data centers
Summary
Coffee County commissioners unanimously adopted Resolution 2026-18 in July 2026 to amend Zoning Resolution 2006-39, formally acknowledging and defining data centers as special exceptions and excluding them from the A1 district; the planning commission will draft conditions for approvals.
The Coffee County Commission voted unanimously in July 2026 to adopt Resolution 2026-18, an amendment to Zoning Resolution 2006-39 that recognizes data centers as a defined land use, treats them as special exceptions and explicitly excludes them from A1 agricultural districts, Mayor Dennis A. Hunt said.
"It accomplishes four things for our county zoning," Mayor Dennis A. Hunt said as he described the amendment’s goals: to acknowledge the presence of data centers, classify them as special exceptions, add detailed definitions and accessory-use language, and remove them from the A1 district. Commissioner Hirschman made the motion to approve; Commissioner Smith seconded. The measure passed with 16 affirmative votes.
Why it matters: the amendment creates a formal zoning framework so the county and its planning commission can evaluate data center proposals under defined conditions rather than leaving them unregulated or ambiguously permitted. Mayor Hunt and other officials said the planning commission will continue work to attach specific conditions to special-exception approvals.
County Attorney Mark Williams and professional planner Amanda Reinhardt provided input on the draft language, Mayor Hunt said, and the planning commission and Board of Zoning Appeals will be responsible for drafting and applying the specific conditions that govern where and how data centers may operate.
The amendment as adopted does not itself set the site-specific conditions or approvals; it places data centers in a category that requires special-exception review. Mayor Hunt emphasized that the planning commission "has got a real good start on this" and that further work is expected before any particular project is approved.
The commission’s action was recorded as Resolution 2026-18 to amend Zoning Resolution 2006-39; the resolution text and effective date were not specified in the meeting record. The county’s next procedural steps include continued planning commission work to draft condition language and subsequent land-use review for any proposed projects.
