Acworth approves yearlong pause on data center projects
During this week’s Acworth Board of Aldermen meeting, the board approved a 12-month data center moratorium. City Manager James Albright said staff recommended the moratorium’s approval to give the city time to review how city ordinances apply to data center facilities. “We feel it best to evaluate our existing ordinance against best practices on these facilities as there can be impacts to public services and our power utility,” he said. He acknowledged communities across the nation are concerned about negative local impacts surrounding data centers. Albright also noted Cobb County previously passed a data center moratorium. Cobb commissioners passed a six-month data center moratorium extension in August, set to expire either in February or when the county amended its ordinance surrounding data centers. The county amended its ordinance and established new regulations in October. “Moratoriums cannot be indefinite, and over the next 12 months we will start to dive into this issue and look into it more,” Albright said. Alderman Steve Prather said he believes a moratorium on data centers is a good move for the city. “Acworth is not in a position, from a space perspective, to have a lot of room to have the kind of data centers,
