DEKALB COUNTY, Ga. — In a move to give county officials more time to understand how data centers impact residents’ welfare and their impacts on public safety, DeKalb County commissioners passed a 100-day moratorium on any new proposals.
According to documents from the Board of Commissioners, the moratorium affects permitting and other authorizations of any new data centers and expanding any currently existing data centers in the unincorporated parts of the county.
"This moratorium is to provide the County staff and governing authority time to study the impacts of data centers on the public safety and general welfare of County residents, and to craft and potentially adopt regulations to counter or ameliorate any such negative impacts," the resolution text says.
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During this time, county staff will work to potentially draft updates or new ordinances for how data centers are constructed and zoned in DeKalb County, though if any legislation is drafted, it will still need to be voted on by the commission.
The moratorium in DeKalb County is similar to other actions in nearby communities in the metro Atlanta area.
In the past year, Coweta County passed a 180-day moratorium in May, Douglas County passed a 90-day moratorium in March and the City of Atlanta has a data center construction ban on the Beltline, as well as ordinances being discussed for stricter regulation of new data centers in the city.
On the flip side, multiple data center proposals have been made, and approved, across the region, including in Marietta, Bartow County, Coweta County, Douglas County, and more.
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