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Residents press Tyrone council for records and tighter rules over Project Rita data center
Summary
At a Tyrone Town Council meeting, residents raised environmental and transparency concerns about Project Rita, a proposed data center on a 161-acre site; staff said the town's Business Technology Park (BTP) zoning and environmental ordinances already impose stricter standards but that no engineering or permitting applications have been submitted yet.
Residents pressed the Tyrone Town Council during public comment to disclose records and tighten rules after the proposal for Project Rita, a data center campus, drew opposition tied to groundwater, noise and nondisclosure agreements.
Ellie Varela, who lives on Mann Road, told the council the development is mapped as a 161-acre site at Highway 74 and Kirkley Road and said the conceptual plan shows two buildings totaling about 500,000 square feet with an on-site substation. “The site sits atop a most significant groundwater recharge area as mapped by the Georgia EPD,” Varela said, and she flagged Trickham Creek running through the property and the proximity of Flat Rock Middle School (about 1.2 miles away) as reasons for concern.
The calls for stricter local rules and more disclosure centered on two themes: process and protection. Several residents, including Shani Dudley, asked the council to release records showing when the Fayette County Development Authority began assembling land for the project, how much was paid to acquire the parcels and what net benefit the community would receive. “If the process was conducted appropriately, transparency will strengthen public confidence. If mistakes were made, then acknowledge them, learn from them, and ensure that this never happens again,” Dudley said.
Others urged a sharper, data-center–specific ordinance. Carrie Carl noted an Atlanta Regional Commission review from March 13, 2024, that found Project Rita inconsistent with developing-suburbs policy and urged the town to adopt setback, study and permitting requirements or a temporary moratorium similar to measures used by other counties.
Health and nuisance concerns also surfaced. Dr. Anna Justpetti, who said she owns Trilogy Health and Wellness, expressed worries about electromagnetic exposure and asserted possible health effects. A resident and several commenters raised questions about low-frequency noise, light pollution and the chemicals used in closed-loop cooling systems.
Town staff told the council they are researching comparable data-center ordinances across Georgia and that Tyrone’s Business Technology Park (BTP) zoning is intentionally restrictive. Philip (Planning and Development staff) said the BTP ordinance was discussed in workshops that mentioned several square-footage figures: around 100,000 in 2020 workshops, a 200,000 figure discussed in 2022, and a 300,000-square-foot cap adopted in February 2023. “The BTP ordinance is established as a more restrictive industrial zoning classification,” Philip said, noting the town also enforces stormwater, tree-protection and buffering standards, requires 30% Class A façade materials and applies height limits tied to setbacks.
Staff emphasized that detailed civil engineering plans and permit applications have not been submitted for Project Rita and that the technical-review process — which includes the Fayette County Fire Marshal, the town engineer, the town’s environmental specialist, planning and development staff, the Fayette County Water System and others — occurs before construction and is subject to public posting. Brandon (staff) summarized groundwater-protection rules and the MPDES construction-permit requirements, and said industrial groundwater-withdrawal permits are triggered only if a facility withdraws more than 100,000 gallons per day; he added that Microsoft has not indicated it would tap the aquifer and that the developer plans to use Fayette County water.
The meeting record shows residents pressing for documents and for ordinance changes while staff outlined existing protections and the upcoming, multi-round technical-review process that will be publicly noticed when the developer submits engineering plans. No final permitting or construction approvals have been recorded; staff said those reviews will include multiple rounds of comments and public-facing plan packets.
Next steps: staff will continue comparative research on data-center ordinances and post memos and permit-related summaries to the town website. When the developer submits civil engineering and permit materials, those items will enter the town’s public technical-review process.
