‘People come first, not data centers’: Athens Mayor and Commission sends data center ordinance back to planning commission

The Athens-Clarke County Mayor and Commission sent the developing data center ordinance back to the planning commission for further review at their regular session on Tuesday, April 7.

Data center ordinance sent back to planning commission

The commission voted to send the new data center ordinance — a set of text amendments to regulate data centers in Athens — back to the ACC planning commission for review. The commission plans to accept the ordinance, but has recommended an additional seven criteria before moving forward with a vote.

Some of the proposed changes to the amendment by the commission include annual reports to collect annual water and energy consumption data; “limiting the size of the data center and their clustering”; agreements to address impacts on nearby residents and resources; and the extension of the property line for any data centers living close to residents to be 500 feet instead of 400.

Data center discussion was a hot topic for public comment at Tuesday’s meeting, with numerous community members voicing their concerns about the possibility of more data centers coming to ACC such as increased water and power consumption, other environmental impacts and the “exploitation of Black, brown, low income and working class communities.”

“What will it be: 200 outsourced jobs and supporting generative [artificial intelligence] … or the health of our community, the people who actually put in work here every single day, the people who make Athens what it is?” Aether Sachdeva, a resident of Riverbend Parkway, asked the commission.

Data centers tend to offer few long-term jobs, as they only require excess workers for the facility’s construction and setup process and only require a small team once operational, according to C&C Technology Group.

Others at public comment shared ideas about further actions the commission should take pertaining to data centers, including establishing a community oversight board so residents can be more involved in decisions like data center center implementation.

Commission approves updates to 2045 FLU map

The commission voted to approve updates to its proposed 2045 Future Land Use (FLU) map. The map serves as a policy guide providing residents and local officials with general direction for the character, density and location of land uses based on a shared vision of the future, according to ACCGov.

Several attendees on Tuesday spoke both in criticism and in favor of the FLU map, with some expressing concern over Athens’ lack of affordable housing.

“I’m asking that we look at this [FLU map] and make sure that we consider that it is truly affordable,” Collisa Lankford, an Athens teacher, said. “I make pretty good money as a teacher, but it’s still not enough.”

As she has struggled with housing affordability on a teacher’s salary, Lankford urged the commission to consider how people working two or three part-time jobs are faring in the city’s housing climate.

Among Tuesday’s approved FLU map updates was the shift of certain areas — including within Athens’ Boulevard neighborhood — to a neighborhood residential land use classification.

According to District 2 Commissioner Melissa Link, properties in the Boulevard area that have long been zoned as commercial are not viable for redevelopment or to serve as commercial properties.

“The hope is that, in laying down the neighborhood residential land use, [these properties] will be redeveloped into modest, family-friendly homes, hopefully missing middle homes, increased density townhomes, [or] garden-style apartments,” Link said. “We need more people living in the Boulevard neighborhood. We need more options for affordable housing in the Boulevard neighborhood.”

Another update would designate the intersection of Freeman Drive and Nowhere Road as a neighborhood center — an area envisioned to have a mix of uses including residential, commercial, office and entertainment.

District 8 Commissioner Carol Myers reiterated that land use classifications are not the same as zoning, but rather act as “visioning” of Athens’ land use for the future.

The county’s previous FLU map has not been revisited since 2000. Adopting the new 20-year map will help ACCGov implement capital investments in sanitary sewers, public water, transit, roadways and greenways, apply proactive zoning standards and development regulations as well as further guidance for development and community investment.

The 2045 FLU map will also assist ACC in reaching its 20-year goals, including increasing housing variety and availability, replacing expensive and aging infrastructure, ensuring that area growth remains constant and having more than 30,000 new county residents by 2045.

In other business

The commission voted to approve the county’s Vision Zero Safety Action Plan, which aims to eliminate traffic-related fatalities and serious injuries by 2037.

Information on other agenda items can be found here.