Projects must provide documentation from utility providers showing that sufficient power is available; a project cannot proceed if the required power cannot be supplied.

Data centers may be required to use a closed-loop system for water use and discharge, restricting conventional water-discharge methods.

Data centers may be limited to industrial-only zoning districts, potentially preventing development on agricultural or other nonindustrial land.

Data centers may require conditional-use approval in addition to ordinary zoning compliance.

Potential development standards include minimum setbacks, property-line buffers, green-space requirements, landscaping and screening, berms, noise limits, and lighting controls.

Minimum and maximum thresholds may be established for project size, utility demand, water usage, and wastewater requirements.

Data-center operators may be required to enter into community-benefit agreements providing benefits to local schools or other community priorities.

The moratorium on data center development was extended for an additional 180 days, delaying related development approvals during that period.

Data centers are allowed only in an I (Industrial) zoning district and must comply with applicable use procedures, site-plan review, and other development regulations.

A data center must be located on a parcel or contiguous-parcel assemblage of at least 10 acres.

For a Conditional Use application, the applicant must demonstrate that the location is appropriate for a data center and that Conditional Use approval is more suitable than rezoning the property to the I (Industrial) District.

The Concept Plan must include an inventory of existing and proposed electrical, water, wastewater, natural-gas, utility-corridor, easement, and other significant infrastructure.

Applicants must submit capacity or approval letters from all applicable utility providers confirming that they can accommodate the facility's projected maximum peak demand and required utility improvements, extensions, or upgrades.

Conditional Use review may consider traffic, noise, lighting, visual effects, utility infrastructure, groundwater, stormwater, drainage, compatibility with adjacent uses, and other related impacts.

The County may impose additional conditions, including increased setbacks, enhanced screening, noise and lighting limits, traffic controls, construction-hour limits, utility requirements, stormwater controls, and environmental protections.

Principal buildings may not exceed 50 feet in height, except for certain uninhabited accessory or incidental structures and equipment.

A data center must maintain a 100-foot setback from exterior property lines, and an industrial-zoned property adjacent to residentially zoned property must maintain a 400-foot setback from the residential property line.

The development must have at least 100 feet of frontage on a public street and at least 100 feet of lot width at the building line.

At least 15 percent of the total parcel area must remain as maintained green space, generally consisting of natural vegetation rather than buildings, equipment, parking, driveways, storage, or other impervious surfaces.

A 400-foot buffer must be maintained along boundaries adjoining residentially used or residentially zoned property, unless a larger buffer is required as a Conditional Use condition; the buffer must remain undisturbed to the maximum extent practicable and be maintained for the life of the data center.

The Zoning Administrator may require supplemental landscaping, berms, fencing, walls, or other screening where an undisturbed buffer does not provide adequate visual screening.

Exterior air-conditioning, HVAC systems, generators, mechanical equipment, and similar equipment must be screened from public rights-of-way and adjacent properties, unless the equipment is more than 400 feet from an adjacent property line or is otherwise exempted as a condition of approval.

The front facade of each principal building must face the street or an adjacent arterial street, unless the building is more than 400 feet from the public right-of-way or is not visible from it.

Exterior lighting must use full-cutoff fixtures; light poles may not exceed 20 feet, must be at least 50 feet from exterior property lines, and may not produce more than 0.5 foot-candles at any exterior property line.

The Zoning Administrator may require a photometric lighting plan to demonstrate compliance with the lighting standards.

Continuous data-center sound may not exceed an average of 65 dBA over any 30-minute period from 8:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m., or 55 dBA over any 30-minute period from 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 a.m., measured at an adjacent property boundary between the site and residential property.

After a building receives a Certificate of Occupancy, the County may conduct or require a professional sound study; the operator must pay the reasonable testing costs, and continuing violations may result in corrective-action requirements and civil penalties of up to $1,000 per day.

Every new data center must use a closed-loop cooling system or another cooling technology that the County determines provides equivalent or greater protection against consumptive water use, with supporting documentation required in the development application.

A data center on a parcel containing or adjacent to property containing a private, public, or monitoring well must identify and document the wells and establish a groundwater-monitoring program.

Groundwater-monitoring records must be maintained and submitted to the County at intervals it establishes, and the County may require additional monitoring, testing, reporting, or documentation.

New data centers, expansions, and substantial modifications using stationary diesel emergency, standby, backup, or supplemental generators may install only EPA Tier 4 Final-certified diesel generating units, subject to applicable air-quality requirements.

Before a building permit, installation permit, or Certificate of Occupancy, the owner or operator must document each applicable diesel generator's Tier 4 certification, regulatory compliance, certified configuration, and required emissions-control equipment.

Replacement generators and additional generators installed during an expansion or substantial modification must also meet the Tier 4 Final requirement, regardless of the classification of the generator being replaced.

Generators may not be operated, modified, maintained, or configured in a way that defeats, disables, removes, or materially reduces the effectiveness of equipment required for Tier 4 certification, except for lawful actions necessary to address an immediate emergency.

The Board of Commissioners may grant only a limited, written exemption from the Tier 4 requirement when a compliant unit is unavailable, compliance would create a demonstrated unreasonable threat to reliability, life safety, or emergency response, or an alternative technology provides equivalent or better emissions performance.

Conditional Use approval does not exempt a data center from other County, state, federal, building, fire, stormwater, environmental, utility, or similar requirements; the more restrictive applicable standard controls.

Before receiving a Certificate of Occupancy, the owner or operator must submit a site-specific Emergency Response Plan to the County and appropriate emergency-response agencies and update it after material facility changes affecting emergency response or safety.

The owner or operator must maintain and promptly update specified emergency contacts, including an on-site representative, a 24-hour decision-making contact, security personnel, and relevant utility, generator, fuel, fire-protection, or battery-system personnel.

Before permanent closure, the owner or operator must obtain approval of a Decommissioning Plan covering closure timing, equipment removal or disposal, hazardous materials, utility disconnection, demolition, site security, restoration, schedules, and contractors.

The Board of Commissioners may require a performance bond or other financial assurance before issuing any data-center permit, in an amount sufficient to address anticipated decommissioning, facility-removal, and site-restoration costs.

Data-center construction must comply with the International Building Codes and required building, zoning, and other permits must be obtained before construction.

Required project documentation includes a site plan showing setbacks and driveways and other applicable plans or permits, such as well or septic permits.

Projects must undergo foundation, rough-in, and final inspections, along with other required inspections.

A zoning application fee of $1,225 applies.

Soil erosion review costs $40 per disturbed acre.

A separate Georgia Department of Transportation permit is required if the project is located on a state highway.

An elevation certificate is required for projects located in a flood zone.

Allows data centers in the I (Industrial) District, subject to applicable review and development standards.

Allows a Conditional Use instead of rezoning, if the applicant demonstrates that the location is appropriate and better suited for a Conditional Use.

Permits uses customarily incidental and accessory to the primary data center use, allowing associated facilities and activities.

Exempts certain accessory or incidental structures and equipment from the 50-foot height limit, including water towers, conveyor systems, and smokestacks.

Waives exterior-equipment screening when equipment is more than 400 feet from an adjacent property line, unless a condition of approval requires screening.

Provides exceptions to the front-facade orientation requirement, when the building is more than 400 feet from the right-of-way or is not visible from it.

Allows security fences and walls outside required setbacks and buffers to exceed otherwise applicable height limits, when necessary for site security and compliant with safety and visibility requirements.

Permits guardhouses, security buildings, and secured-entry features at public road entrances, when customarily associated with the data center.

Allows internal development roads to be public or private, providing flexibility in site access and road ownership.

Allows a limited exemption from the Tier 4 Final generator requirement, if the Board makes written findings concerning commercial unavailability, electric-system reliability, life safety, emergency response, or equivalent emissions performance.

Makes a decommissioning performance bond discretionary, rather than automatically requiring one for every data center.