ATLANTA — The Atlanta City Council is proposing stricter rules to get a permit approved to build data centers in the city.
Last year, the council banned building data centers on the Beltline.
The ordinance, proposed by 13 members of the city council, would amend the City of Atlanta’s zoning ordinances to require special use permits for data centers.
Additionally, the special use permit applications would require the proposals to address the data center’s impacts on water consumption, water conservation, energy use and other environmental considerations.
[DOWNLOAD: Free WSB-TV News app for alerts as news breaks]
As proposed, the ordinance “acknowledges the critical role that data centers play in powering the evolving digital economy, but also recognizes that their operations place substantial demands on the City’s water and energy resources, with far-reaching implications for public utilities and environmental sustainability.”
The document notes that water use by data center operations is significant and mainly handles keeping the data centers cooled, which can “severely exacerbate water demand within the City and surrounding metropolitan region,” particularly during droughts or water scarcity challenges.
The ordinance states that the increased water consumption from data centers could have an impact on the City of Atlanta’s ability to provide reliable water service to residents and businesses and meet the water needs of the metro area in the future.
TRENDING STORIES:
- Governor’s office said it will start issuing special tax refund checks this week
- Dynamite blasting for data center construction blamed for Newton County woman’s ceiling collapse
- Keepsake from destroyed home found miles away, returned to Henry Co. tornado survivor
Additionally, the “vast amounts of electricity” required by data centers was also said to pose a risk of putting additional strain on city infrastructure.
To power a data center, the ordinance says large transmission lines are needed, and installing them can mean removing thousands of trees and impacting urban ecosystems, among other impacts on the environment, as well as coming at the expense of public land and resources.
Due to those potential large-scale impacts, the proposed ordinance for permits of data centers would require they submit a water consumption plan, water conservation and sustainability plan, energy consumption plan, stormwater management plan and any other information the city requests that would be needed for approval.
The additional information would be requested by various city departments, including city planning ,watershed management, parks and recreation or enterprise assets management, among others.
If any data center proposals are not part of a unified plan, they cannot be larger than 150,000 square feet per floor and cannot be within 2,000 feet of another data center.
If the data center is part of a unified development plan, it cannot be larger than 300,000 square feet per floor and cannot be within 2,000 feet of another data center that is not part of a unified plan.
Either version must get a special use permit approved to proceed.
The ordinance also included regulations for building lengths, exteriors and facades that face public right-of-ways for new construction, saying:
- Data centers cannot use barbed wire, chain link or razor wire fencing and are blocked from using aluminum siding or synthetic stucco.
- Any mechanical equipment must be located in the side or rear yard of the main structure where possible and screening may be required if equipment is visible to the public in a right-of-way or park, according to the ordinance.
If a building is being converted to a data center instead, only buildings older than 50 years can be converted. Barbed wire, chain link fence or razor wire fencing is also banned.
Data centers are also banned if they would be within 2,640 feet of a high capacity transit stop, such as a bus or MARTA station.
Similar rules would be applied to data centers built underneath retail or other commercial spaces, including the distance from transit stops.
[SIGN UP: WSB-TV Daily Headlines Newsletter]
©2025 Cox Media Group
