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Carroll County reviews draft zoning rules for battery storage, solar farms and data centers; commissioners seek more study and moratorium extension
Summary
County Attorney Avery Jackson presented a draft zoning amendment that would permit small solar projects while treating larger solar farms, battery storage, and large data centers as conditional uses with thresholds (1 acre/5 MW for solar; 20,000 sq ft/20 MW for data centers), buffers and noise limits; commissioners asked for more analysis on water, fire response, and power impacts and agreed to add a 100-day moratorium extension to the agenda for further work.
County Attorney Avery Jackson told the board the draft zoning amendments are an initial step to regulate battery storage facilities, solar farms and large data centers, and he emphasized the draft will be refined following Planning & Zoning hearings and public comment. Jackson proposed allowing small solar installations (under 1 acre or under 5 megawatts) in agricultural zones while larger solar farms would require conditional-use review; battery storage facilities were proposed as conditional uses in industrial zones.
For data centers, Jackson proposed a threshold that would permit small community-owned facilities but require conditional-use review for projects over 20,000 square feet or above 20 megawatts. He outlined proposed safeguards including a 300-foot setback for large facilities, a 50-foot vegetative buffer, noise limits measured at property lines with tighter nighttime limits, mandatory site-plan submissions, and a requirement that applicants secure a will-serve letter or confirmation from the Carroll County Water Authority. Jackson said the draft would also require closed-loop cooling and generally prohibit open-loop cooling systems.
Commissioners pressed for more detail. One commissioner urged stronger water-service language and asked for an analysis of whether a new project would force the water authority to delay other planned projects. Another commissioner raised fire-suppression concerns and asked that applicants provide a department-level analysis of costs and equipment needed to respond to battery-storage incidents: "I think we need an extensive analysis on what that would look like with our fire service protection," the commissioner said. Commissioners also discussed whether to require additional power-related proofs even though Jackson said utilities and the Georgia Public Service Commission handle rate impacts. The board gave direction to prepare moratorium-extension language to buy time for further study and public engagement.
