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Troup County draft ordinance sets strict siting, buffer, utility and noise rules for data centers and crypto facilities; public commenter urges ban
Summary
Staff presented a draft UDO amendment creating a comprehensive framework for data centers, cryptocurrency facilities and data mining: minimum 25-acre sites for average/hyperscale facilities, mandatory public water connection, preference for public sanitary sewer (decentralized systems only by special findings), 1,500-foot campus-to-sensitive receptor separation, 300-foot vegetative buffers, noise caps of 60 dBA at sensitive receptors and 70 dBA elsewhere, quarterly independent noise reports, decommissioning plans and bond requirements. A public commenter urged a ban on cryptocurrency and stronger sewer requirements.
Staff presented a detailed draft amendment to the Unified Development Ordinance that would add and regulate data centers, cryptocurrency facilities and data-mining operations. Key features described in the draft include a minimum acreage requirement of 25 acres for average and hyperscale facilities, mandatory connection to a public water system, a stated preference for public sanitary sewer (with decentralized sewerage allowed only if specific findings are made during a special-use-permit review), and requirements for design, phasing and utility-service documentation as part of a complete special-use application.
The draft also prescribes environmental and community protections: a required 1,500-foot separation between campus buildings and sensitive receptors (schools, health facilities, residences), vegetative buffers of roughly 300 feet along property lines adjacent to sensitive receptors, and noise limits capped at 60 dBA at sensitive receptors and 70 dBA at other developed properties with limited allowances for brief exceedances and rules for generator testing. The ordinance would require independent quarterly noise assessments, specifications for grounded, fire-rated metal enclosures for equipment, minimum 8-foot perimeter fencing, burial of on-site power lines up to 34.5 kV where applicable, 24-hour emergency contact signage, coordination with County Emergency Management for first-responder radio coverage, and rooftop designs that accommodate future solar installations. The draft also addresses decommissioning plans and bond requirements for average and hyperscale facilities.
During the public-comment period Cindy Hutchings, vice chair of the Troup County Anti Data Center Coalition, urged the county to ban cryptocurrency facilities outright and raised concerns about heat, noise and sewer alternatives. "Crypto really needs to be banned. Crypto is basically like the dirty little brother of data centers. It produces a lot of heat, a lot of noise," Hutchings said, and she also urged that sewer connections be required to municipal sewage systems rather than allowing decentralized alternatives. Commissioners moved, seconded and ultimately carried a motion to recommend the amendment per the UDO process.
