The DeKalb County Board of Commissioners voted on Dec. 16 to continue a pause on building new data centers in the county until June 2026, a decision prompted by community concerns about the public health and environmental impact of such centers.
The board unanimously approved a substitute motion introduced by District 7 Commissioner LaDena Bolton to extend a moratorium until June 23, 2026, blocking new licenses or permits for data centers until that date, according to Miranda Rupkey, district chief of staff for Super District 6.
By extending the moratorium, which was set to expire Tuesday, commissioners agreed to delay any new data center development while they consider possible regulations in unincorporated DeKalb County. Terry made a motion for a 12-month moratorium on the data centers to allow time for an independent environmental and public health study to be conducted. That motion failed by a 3-4 vote.
In a town hall last week, Terry heard several residents share their “crystal-clear” fears about how building data centers within 500 feet of their homes could disrupt their neighborhoods and lead to long-term environmental issues. In other communities across the country, data centers’ diesel generators have increased fossil-fuel generation, leading to impacts on utility bills, stormwater runoff, and their drinking water.
“Residents are worried about noise near homes, parks, and trails,” Terry said in the meeting. “They are worried about grid reliability and whether massive energy users will strain neighborhood power systems. And they are worried about equity — about whether communities that have historically hosted landfills and heavy industrial uses are once again being asked to absorb the impacts of yet another speculative development with adverse outcomes.”
There are no plans to fund an environmental study ahead of the ending date of the moratorium. Terry requested the longer extension in hopes that the fiscal year budget could allocate as much as $250,000 toward an independent study on future data centers’ impacts on environmental and public health.
“This investment would ensure the work is thorough, transparent, and insulated from developer influence,” Terry said. “A 12-month extension provides the runway to do this right. It builds public trust. It protects the county, legally and ethically…This moratorium is not about avoiding decisions — it is about making better decisions.”
Commissioners will hold a public hearing on Jan. 27, 2026 to review the application of the Director of Planning and Sustainability to amend Chapter 27, which will establish a definition, regulatory guidelines, and development standards for data centers.
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