GRIFFIN, Ga. — Another metro Atlanta area city passed a multi-month data center permit and application moratorium.
This time, the moratorium is in Griffin. The hiatus on any data center permitting, applications and similar for other technology facilities like cryptocurrency mining operations is blocked until July.
The 180-day moratorium passed unanimously, seven to none, on Jan. 13 by the Griffin City Council.
According to the resolution, the moratorium is in place so city planning staff can have time to thoroughly study current codes and ordinances for potential data center regulations.
[DOWNLOAD: Free WSB-TV News app for alerts as news breaks]
RELATED STORIES:
- Lawmaker says she has bipartisan support for bill to halt new data centers for a year
- Roswell City Council passes data center moratorium
- Troup County approves 90-day moratorium on data center applications
- Clayton County commissioners pass data center moratorium through end of year
The city’s documents also said planning staff will be reviewing how other metro area jurisdictions have approached the data center situation and will make recommendations for how to revise the City’s Unified Development Code.
As for why, officials said data centers are not specifically allowed within the city.
“The UDC currently does not specifically allow Technological Facilities within the City, either by right or special use permit,” according to the resolution text. ”A number of these facilities have emerged in Georgia in the last year, and many Georgia cities and counties have imposed moratoriums while adopting zoning ordinances to regulate the use.”
The resolution also said that while the facilities in question are a legitimate land use and cannot be prohibited all together, they “can be reasonably regulated,” thus the moratorium now in effect.
The city said staff are planning to work no addressing concerns of power use, water use, noise and traffic changes.
[SIGN UP: WSB-TV Daily Headlines Newsletter]
©2026 Cox Media Group
