Commission approves rezoning and boundary items; residents voice concerns about data centers and plant odors

At its June 8 meeting the Whitfield County Board of Commissioners acted on several land-use requests and heard public comments on community concerns.

The board approved a Planning Commission recommendation to rezone a 42.0-acre tract at 116 McFalls Street in Dalton (parcel 12-142-02-086) from General Commercial (C-2) to Rural Residential (R-5). Separately, the board recorded no land-use objection to annexation of parcel 11-172-01-009 into the City of Varnell and voted to de-annex parcel 11-188-02-000 from Varnell to unincorporated Whitfield County. The board also denied a rezoning request from Shazman Ali for an 8.751-acre parcel on Tunnel Hill Varnell Road; the minutes note the requester had asked the Board to deny his own request. All land-use motions recorded were approved 3-0.

During the public-comment period, Masha White invited volunteers to set up the Avenue of Flags (June 11 setup, June 19 retrieval). Carmen Shuler and Cathy Kott urged the board to require public-health impact studies and greater transparency for data-center proposals; Kott suggested the board consider placing moratoria on data-center construction permits to allow time for study. Dennis Mock raised concerns about the Tax Assessor's Office. James Worth complained about persistent odors from industrial plants in the county's southern area. The minutes do not record further board action in response to those public comments.

The minutes show the board handled the land-use agenda items in a single session and recorded motions, seconds and unanimous 3-0 approvals where applicable.