Camden County Weighs New Data Center Rules and Proposed Technology Zoning District
Camden County commissioners held a work session Sept. 29, 2026, to review an updated data center ordinance and a proposed new zoning district aimed at controlling where technology-oriented businesses can locate. A moratorium on data centers remains in place while officials develop the rules.
A county planning staff member presented the draft, saying staff reviewed ordinances from Cartersville, Kingsland, Georgia Tech, Coweta, Oglethorpe and other jurisdictions, along with materials from groups including the St. Marys Riverkeeper. "Since we are a coastal county, we do want to make sure that our environment is protected because we're a little bit more sensitive than everyone else," she said.
The proposed technology district would reallocate technology-related uses currently allowed in industrial general or industrial restricted zoning. Officials said the intent is to prevent a property owner from rezoning to industrial for a data center that never materializes, then using the parcel for any allowed industrial use. "It's either technology or not," one commissioner said, citing a prior dispute over a proposed storage facility near Kenlow Road.
Draft development standards discussed included minimum lot sizes of 25 acres for data centers under 99,999 square feet of gross floor area and 50 acres for those over 100,000 square feet; a 75-foot front-yard setback; 100-foot side and rear setbacks; and a maximum building height of 60 feet. Commissioners questioned whether lot sizes should be tiered to match the ordinance's small, medium and hyperscale data center categories. Staff said the draft also includes a provision drawn from an Oglethorpe County ordinance limiting principal buildings to no more than 25% of gross site acreage.
The draft also proposed a minimum 100-foot buffer along property lines and a 300-foot buffer for state waters, marshlands and wetlands. Several commissioners said 300 feet may be too aggressive given the amount of wetlands in the county, noting state and federal agencies use a 25-foot buffer. The staff member said she recommended the larger buffer as a floodplain manager to guard against runoff and encroachment, but commissioners asked staff to reconsider the figure and to clarify definitions such as "jurisdictional" wetlands and "state waters."
Additional draft provisions addressed sound limits of 60 decibels during the day and 50 decibels at night measured at adjacent property boundaries, with fines of $1,000 per day for violations; dark-sky exterior lighting requirements; closed-loop cooling systems with open-loop systems prohibited; screening of HVAC and power equipment; fire suppression and emergency response plans coordinated with local emergency services; public notice to property owners within 1,500 feet; and decommissioning provisions treating facilities inactive for 12 months as abandoned. One commissioner pushed to explore requiring a decommissioning bond so the county is not left with blighted or contaminated sites, citing the former mill's brownfield status.
Power supply drew extensive discussion. Commissioners debated whether the county could require on-site power generation and how to ensure utility upgrades and infrastructure costs are borne by operators rather than passed to residents. "You've got to make sure that we put it in writing that they have to pay for all of their power, that our power bill is not going to go up," one commissioner said, referencing complaints he heard about facilities in Virginia. Commissioners discussed requiring a comprehensive power plan and binding agreements with utilities before a building permit could issue, while noting the county has limited authority over state-regulated utilities.
Commissioners also discussed a development agreement or community benefit agreement as the mechanism to require specific commitments from any future data center developer, including funding infrastructure improvements. The draft states approval would not obligate the county to finance or maintain infrastructure primarily serving a data center, and prohibits data centers from receiving tax abatements or other county incentives.
Officials said no votes were taken. They plan a field trip to view existing and newer data centers, attendance at Georgia Tech presentations, and further work sessions and public hearings before any ordinance is adopted. A commissioner said the ordinance is expected to come up Nov. 5. Staff was asked to incorporate the night's changes and mark new additions in a color other than red for easier review.