Coweta County officials on Tuesday became the second metro Atlanta government to temporarily pause all new data center projects, to find their bearings amid an unprecedented wave of proposals.
The Coweta County Board of Commissioners unanimously adopted a 180-day moratorium to evaluate its data center policies and zoning codes. A similar 90-day moratorium was adopted by Douglas County in March because of the number of pending data center projects coalescing in the area.
Coweta’s pause comes weeks after the board in a 3-2 vote approved a rezoning request for a $1 billion data center campus called Project Peach. The 320-acre project along Johnston Circle received stark opposition, including from the mayor of neighboring Palmetto in south Fulton County, according to the Newnan Times-Herald.
The moratorium was prompted by an even larger project, a $17 billion campus called Project Sail that ranks among the largest proposed computer server farms in Georgia. Pitched by Atlas Development LLC, Project Sail has yet to come before the commission for any votes, but has prompted neighbor opposition and a petition with 1,750 signatures.
Credit: Courtesy Coweta County
Credit: Courtesy Coweta County
“Data centers are still a relatively new land use and are not explicitly addressed in most zoning codes,” the board of commissioners told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution in a statement. “As interest in siting data centers in our county grows, we want to ensure that any future development supports economic growth while also protecting the long-term interests of our community.”
The commissioners said the moratorium allows for time “to gather input from stakeholders, study how other counties are managing this issue and develop a well-informed ordinance.”
The dual moratoriums come amid a wave of data center development across metro Atlanta, which has been the hottest market for computer storage space since 2023. Effectively gigantic warehouses for computer servers, data centers have become a common — and sometimes controversial — use for large pieces of undeveloped land in recent years.
Because these projects house expansive rows of expensive computer equipment, they have the potential to generate lots of property tax revenue and employ high-paid workers.
Data centers, however, require vast amounts of electricity. Some proposals have power capacities surpassing one of Plant Vogtle’s nuclear reactors at full output. Some data center designs can also strain local water systems to keep equipment from overheating, and they generally employ only a few dozen workers despite their mammoth size.
The Atlanta region emerged as the country’s top data center market for leasing activity in 2024, dethroning Northern Virginia for the first time, according to data from CBRE. The net amount of leased data center space in Atlanta increased by 706 megawatts in 2024, 56% more than Northern Virginia during the same year.
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