Stephens County puts proposed data-center rules on hold for more research and public input

Stephens County commissioners unanimously postponed adoption of a proposed data-center ordinance on May 12, pausing a land-use resolution that had been scheduled for consideration while commissioners and county staff gather information from other counties and seek public input through a work session. The official agenda item-result record also says commissioners unanimously adopted separate updates to the county’s accessory-structures ordinance.

The delay leaves unresolved the rules that would shape how a developer seeks conditional-use approval for a data center in Stephens County. The proposed standards contemplated screening, utility-impact studies, cooling systems, emergency planning, inspections, penalties and regional review—requirements that could affect both what applicants must disclose before a project is considered and what enforcement tools the county could use afterward.

The county had placed the broader Land Use Ordinance changes on its April 28 agenda for a public hearing and second and final reading. By May 12, rather than adopt the data-center portion, commissioners chose to postpone it. That decision separated the pending data-center rules from accessory-structure updates, which the May official agenda item-result record identifies as adopted unanimously.

Commissioners and county staff said, through their unanimous postponement motion recorded on the May agenda, that they needed information from other counties and public input at a work session before proceeding with the data-center ordinance. Residents and prospective developers have a direct interest in the eventual terms: residents would be able to weigh in on countywide land-use standards, while developers would face whatever conditions the county ultimately adopts for data-center applications.

The postponement is a completed board action, not an adoption of the proposed data-center standards. The accessory-structure updates were adopted, but the May official agenda item-result record does not establish that the data-center requirements on screening, studies, cooling, emergency planning, inspections, penalties or regional review took effect. It also does not establish a later vote, an effective date or a revised ordinance for the data-center proposal.

The next concrete public step is a county work-session notice, later hearing notice or official record documenting renewed consideration of the data-center ordinance. No new work-session date or later action is stated in the record. Until commissioners return to the proposal, the central questions remain undecided: which standards, if any, they will adopt and when residents will have their next formal chance to comment.