Requires the Planning and Zoning Commission to hold a public hearing and consider whether data processing, hosting, and related services (NAICS 518 and 519) should require a special use permit before operating in General Commercial, Commercial Interchange, Light Industrial, or General Industrial districts; the Commission would then make recommendations on implementing the requirement.

A data center may operate only as a use permitted by right or by Special Use approval in the applicable zoning district; uses not listed in the allowed-use table are prohibited and require a zoning-text amendment.

No building or land may be used, and no building permit may be issued, unless the proposed use complies with the zoning district regulations or has received a variance or special-use approval.

Construction, erection, moving, or alteration of a data-center building requires a building permit before work begins. The applicant must provide a dimensioned site plan, identify existing and intended uses, establish lawful access, and obtain final-plat approval where applicable.

Nonresidential buildings and structures using alternative construction materials require professionally prepared architectural or engineering plans; alternative construction materials also require Special Use approval before a permit may be issued.

A certificate of occupancy is required before an erected or altered building may be used, and it may be denied until the development complies with zoning and applicable electrical, plumbing, and mechanical codes.

If a proposed data center uses a well, septic system, private water system, or private sewage-disposal system, the building-permit application must include approval from the County Health Department.

All structures must comply with applicable SBCCI, ICC, or county-adopted codes, and the latest state-adopted construction codes are enforced by the County.

A building permit must be renewed if construction has not begun within six months after issuance.

Temporary electrical service is available only while a valid building permit or Special Use permit is in effect; it must be shut off when the permit expires or a certificate of occupancy is issued.

All uses must provide off-street parking. Each parking space must be at least 180 square feet, with adequate ingress and egress and an access drive at least 10 feet wide; where a use is not specifically listed, parking requirements for a similar use apply.

All uses must provide adequate off-street loading and unloading space so normal operations do not require vehicles to stand in or project into a public street, sidewalk, alley, or other public way. Each required loading space must be at least 10 feet wide, 50 feet long, and 14 feet high.

Commercial, industrial, or institutional uses, and parking or loading areas for five or more automobiles, must be separated from adjoining residential property by a planted or constructed buffer at least 10 feet wide and at least 6 feet high.

A commercial building changing ownership or occupational license requires an inspection by the Building and Zoning Administrator.

Persistent uses that produce or emit obnoxious or injurious odor, dust, smoke, refuse, fumes, noise, vibration, or similar conditions, or that endanger community health or safety, are prohibited.

In the limited-industrial and general-industrial districts, an industrial use producing injurious or obnoxious noise, vibration, smoke, gas, fumes, odor, dust, fire hazards, or other objectionable conditions requires Special Use approval, must be at least 200 feet from adjoining property lines, and must comply with Georgia Environmental Protection Division requirements.

If rezoning is needed, the application must include a survey, legal description, written narrative, architectural renderings, and a concept plan showing proposed buildings, setbacks, buffers, parking, driveways, utilities, stormwater facilities, water supply, and sanitary-sewer disposal.

Rezoning or text-amendment applications must be submitted at least 45 days before the meeting at which they will be considered, and zoning amendments require Planning Commission review and a recommendation before County Commission action.

Rezoning or Special Use applications require public-notice procedures, including newspaper notice, property posting at least 15 days before the hearing, and certified-mail notice to property owners within 300 feet, with notice received between 15 and 45 days before the hearing.

A Special Use application must be filed at least 45 days before the next regularly scheduled Planning Commission meeting and may be approved with conditions addressing landscaping, increased setbacks, utilities, hours of operation, operational controls, inspections, parking, signs, and construction.

If a Special Use application is denied, the same property may not be reconsidered for that Special Use for at least six months.

A variance application must be filed at least 45 days before the next regularly scheduled Planning Commission meeting and requires a public hearing; an approved variance becomes void after one year unless substantial construction has occurred, subject to a possible extension of up to one additional year.

A nonconforming data-center building may be altered, improved, or reconstructed only up to 10 percent of its current assessed structural value unless it is changed to a conforming use, and a nonconforming use may not be extended or enlarged.

An abandoned nonconforming use cannot be resumed; abandonment includes an owner’s apparent intent to discontinue the use, inactivity for more than one year, replacement by a conforming use, or conversion to another use requiring a permit or certificate of occupancy.

Table 2.1 lists data processing, hosting, and related services under NAICS 518 as permitted by right in multiple zoning districts, rather than requiring special-use approval. The table states that uses not listed as permitted or special are prohibited.

A conforming building permit application must be approved or denied within 10 days after the required fee is paid. The permit may be issued only if the proposed work complies with the zoning ordinance and applicable regulations.

Existing lawful nonconforming data-processing or related uses may continue after zoning changes. A nonconforming structure may also be altered, improved, or reconstructed up to 10 percent of its current assessed structural value without being converted to a conforming use.

A lawful nonconforming facility damaged by fire, collapse, explosion, or an act of God may be repaired, rebuilt, or reconstructed if the work does not exceed the structure's current assessed value at the time of damage.

The Planned Unit Development district allows project-specific permitted uses to be established as zoning-approval conditions and imposes no fixed lot-coverage requirement; the master development plan instead specifies the maximum lot coverage.

PUD projects have no minimum interior yard, lot-frontage, or lot-width requirements, allowing more flexible placement and configuration of buildings and infrastructure. The project must generally be at least 10 acres and comply with master-plan, buffer, open-space, density, and environmental requirements.

A PUD developer may receive a 10 percent reduction in required parking for nonresidential uses if the project adopts an eligible targeted community initiative and the local government approves the incentive after Planning Commission review.

In a PUD, subsequent site, subdivision, utility, landscaping, and building plans must be reviewed for consistency with the approved Master Development Plan before permits are issued, providing an established framework for later project approvals.

Commercial and industrial properties may use accessory parking or vehicle-storage areas, enclosed buildings for storing supplies or merchandise, and incidental awnings or canopies, subject to the applicable district setbacks and performance limits.

The I-R and I-G industrial districts allow up to 75 percent lot coverage; both allow buildings up to 60 feet high, subject to district requirements and any special-use or environmental restrictions that apply to the particular operation.