New data-center development after March 1, 2025 is subject to Dawson County development impact fees. The ordinance applies the fee requirement to any person engaging in development after that date, and defines development to include construction, expansion, or a change in land use that creates additional demand for public facilities. The fee requirement applies after March 1, 2025.

The adopted fee schedule imposes a total impact fee of $0.3005 per square foot for a data center, creating an added development cost. Data Center ... $0.3005 per square foot.

The impact fee is assessed when a building-permit application is submitted and must be paid before the building permit is issued and before the certificate of occupancy is issued. Projects not requiring a building permit must pay before receiving the development permit or other authorization to begin construction or use. Fees are assessed at application and collected by permit issuance.

A later change in a data center’s use, building size, or activity that increases public-facility demand can trigger an additional impact fee. If the change reduces demand, the ordinance provides no refund or credit for previously paid impact fees. Future changes in demand may result from a change in land use or expansion.

If a building’s final use cannot be determined when the initial permit is issued, the administrator may assess a fee based on the most likely use and later adjust it before an interior-finish permit or certificate of occupancy; the adjustment may require an additional payment. The fee may be adjusted to the actual use before occupancy.

Violations can result in a written notice, stop-work order, suspension or revocation of a building permit, or withholding of other development approvals. Knowingly providing false information or proceeding under an incorrect use category or number of development units is an actionable violation. The administrator may issue a stop-work order or revoke a building permit.

The fee schedule specifically classifies data centers and sets a defined total impact fee of $0.3005 per square foot, providing a known fee amount for development.

The Board of Commissioners may waive a percentage of impact fees for a project that creates extraordinary economic development and employment growth. The Board must make an employment-growth finding, and non-impact-fee revenue must be appropriated to fund the waiver.

An applicant may request an individual impact-fee assessment instead of the scheduled fee. The assessment may be based on credible engineering, planning, or local demand studies, subject to the administrator’s approval and appeal rights.

A developer or property owner may obtain written certification of the applicable fee schedule or project-specific fee. The certified fee remains effective for 180 days, and the administrator must issue the certification within five working days after receiving a completed application.

A private agreement may establish a project-specific payment schedule or payment method, including installment-type arrangements, when acceptable security such as a cash bond, letter of credit, surety bond, lien, or mortgage is provided.

A private agreement may allow construction, dedication of property, or other in-kind contributions for eligible public facilities in lieu of, or with a credit against, applicable impact fees.

A developer may receive credits for eligible system improvements, land dedications, equipment, or monetary contributions, provided the improvement is included in the capital improvements element, the credit does not exceed the eligible project cost, and the Board approved the improvement and its value beforehand.

A project with a valid building permit issued before an amendment to the impact-fee ordinance is generally protected from additional impact fees while the permit remains valid and construction is timely commenced and pursued.

A complete building-permit application submitted before an amendment may proceed without additional impact fees if applicable prior fees have been paid and construction begins, continues, and is completed within the permit period or 180 days, whichever is later.

Remodeling or repairing an existing structure is not subject to impact fees when it does not increase the number of development units or demand on the covered public facilities.

Data storage centers are classified as critical facilities and may not be located in the 100-year or 500-year floodplain; ingress and egress must be protected to the 500-year flood elevation.

Development begun after March 1, 2025 is subject to a development impact fee, except for listed exemptions covering specified rebuilding, remodeling, replacement, accessory, and temporary construction activities.

Proposed commercial or industrial developments must attend a pre-application meeting with the Community Development Director or designee before submitting an application.

Uses not listed as permitted or special uses in the applicable commercial zoning use table are prohibited; if a data center is not clearly covered, the Community Development Director determines its classification.

Commercial and industrial projects exceeding 50,000 square feet or meeting Development of Regional Impact thresholds must submit a professional-engineer-prepared and sealed traffic impact study before rezoning, special-use, or civil-plan submissions, and the applicant must pay county third-party review costs.

For one common development, a representative of a single entity may have no more than 10 building permit applications in process at once. Additional applications require issuance of permits or a wait of at least 30 calendar days.

Building permits expire if work does not begin within 180 days, is suspended or abandoned for 180 days, or has no inspections for 180 days; extensions require a written request and justifiable cause, subject to the applicable extension limits.

Nonresidential construction must submit a lighting plan before issuance of a land-development or building permit, and exterior lighting must use full-cutoff fixtures and comply with limits at property lines and rights-of-way.

Commercial and industrial data-center projects must meet district-specific minimum lot sizes, setbacks, building-height limits, and buffers, including examples of three-acre lots with 50-foot setbacks and buffers in C-HI and four-acre lots with 50-foot setbacks and 100-foot buffers in C-IR.

Commercial buildings of at least 200 square feet generally may not use metal, vinyl, standard concrete block, or EIFS stucco as exterior finishes in commercial districts other than C-HI and C-IR; allowed materials include brick, stone, hard-coat stucco, or another material approved by the Community Development Director.

Commercial and industrial projects must comply with landscaping, screening, parking-lot landscaping, tree-protection, lighting, and buffer requirements, including shielding outdoor lighting from off-site glare and providing vegetation or screening along adjoining residential uses.

Parking must meet the commercial parking table, and a use classified as warehouse or storage requires at least one space per 1,000 square feet of gross floor area. The director may require an applicant-funded parking-generation study when demand cannot readily be determined.

Projects using the county's third-party inspection program must submit field reports within one business day and inspection certifications one business day after inspection; applicable regulatory, inspection, and plan-review fees must be paid, and third-party inspectors cannot perform final or power-release inspections.

In the Etowah River water-supply watershed and Russell Creek Reservoir watershed protection areas, impervious surface is limited to 25 percent of the watershed protection area; exceeding that limit requires a Board of Commissioners variance.

Development in mapped special-flood-hazard areas requires a development permit and elevation, floodproofing, engineering, and certification information. New construction and substantial improvements must meet applicable flood-elevation and floodproofing standards.

A project in the mixed-use village district generally must occupy 300 to 1,000 acres, follow an approved master development plan, maintain a 50-foot undisturbed perimeter buffer, and provide residential and nonresidential development concurrently; significant plan changes require a new zoning case.

Private roads and stormwater systems in subdivisions must remain privately maintained unless accepted by the county, and major subdivisions with privately maintained roads must provide performance and maintenance surety generally equal to 100 percent of specified construction and maintenance costs.

New nonresidential streets and minor collectors must meet specified pavement, base-course, inspection, drainage, and construction standards. The wearing course is generally delayed until 90 percent of buildings are constructed or the maintenance period is nearing completion.

Complete building-permit applications must be reviewed within five to ten business days; incomplete applications must be rejected in writing with the reasons stated.

For a common development, up to 10 building-permit applications may be in process at once, with additional applications allowed after permits are issued or 30 calendar days have passed, supporting phased construction or expansion.

Applicants may use county-approved third-party plans reviewers and inspectors under the county's inspection and plans-review program, subject to county requirements.

Projects with valid building permits issued before an impact-fee amendment are protected from additional development impact fees while the permits remain valid and construction begins and proceeds as required. Complete permit applications submitted before the amendment may receive the same protection if applicable fees are paid and construction begins and is completed within the specified time.

The Building Official may approve case-specific modifications and alternative materials, designs, or construction methods when strict compliance creates practical difficulties, provided the alternatives meet the code's intent and required standards for quality, strength, effectiveness, fire resistance, durability, and safety.

The Community Development Director may grant an administrative adjustment of up to 20 percent to a numeric development standard when strict compliance creates an undue hardship, provided the adjustment does not impair the ordinance's purposes, negatively affect surrounding properties, or authorize a prohibited use.

Commercial and industrial developments may use private roads and private stormwater systems if they meet county standards and establish the required maintenance responsibilities and agreements.

The county may accept qualifying collector roads within a development for county maintenance when they connect a state route or county-maintained road, meet Dawson County design standards, and satisfy other eligibility requirements; cul-de-sacs are excluded.

Existing permitted developments and properties may retain the land-use standards that applied when they were initially permitted instead of automatically becoming subject to later district standards, subject to specified district provisions and exceptions.

A nonconforming use that is discontinued for less than two consecutive years may continue without losing its nonconforming status; discontinuance for two years ends the right to resume the use.

Data storage centers are classified as critical facilities. They may not be located in the 100-year or 500-year floodplain, and their ingress and egress must be protected to the 500-year flood elevation.