An update as of December 17, 2025:

At the final Board of Commissioner’s meeting of 2025 on Tuesday, December 16th, Commissioner Terry introduced a motion to extend the Data Center Moratorium for 1 year, to the last Board of Commissioner’s meeting in 2026, and to include an independent Environmental and Public Health Study funded in the FY2026 budget not to exceed $250,000 and ideally led by the DeKalb Public Health Department.

Click here to read his full remarks. 

This motion failed by a 3-4 vote. 

Instead, the Board voted to extend the moratorium by 6 months to June 23, 2026 without the independent Environmental and Public Health Study.

Next, the Board voted to defer the Data Center Regulations until the January 27, 2026 commission meeting WITH a public hearing. 

Finally, the Special Land Use Permit for the proposed 95.57-acre, one million square foot data center campus in Ellenwood has been deferred to the January 13th Board of Commissioner’s meeting. 

To provide further context and understanding, you may be curious where there is available industrial land in DeKalb County, possible locations where a data center could be built. These location do follow the draft regulations but is not yet updated for the new parks and trails buffers. Click here to view the entire map.

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On December 10, Commissioner Terry hosted a Data Center Town Hall

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An update as of November 21: Click here to read Commissioner Terry’s latest position and what he will look to advocate for to ensure stronger, greener data center regulations for DeKalb County.

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An update from Commissioner Terry’s November 9th Newsletter:

“DeKalb County has been considering options for data center regulations. The third draft regulations, prepared by the Planning and Sustainability Department, was approved by the Planning Commission this past week (November 6). This puts the vote on regulations in the Board of Commissioner’s court.

Regulations are crucial to protect our communities and ensure you have a voice in a decision that can impact DeKalb for years to come. And while this third draft regulations are some of the strongest, greenest, and quietest, in the country- I believe we can still do better. 

I will be advocating to defer the regulation item on the November 20 Zoning meeting to further advocate the following is implemented:

  • Requiring a buffer distance of 500 ft from a park or trail. This is currently the proposed regulation for residential. 
  • Every data center and data center expansion must require a Special Land Use Permit (SLUP). The SLUP process ensures a community process before a data center can be built. This is crucial to ensure transparency and allow ample time for the community to assess the proposal. 
  • A community benefits agreement for every data center through the SLUP process. Ensuring our communities are not only protected but invested in. 

Now that this decision is up to the commissioners, they need to hear from you.

Email your Commissioner

Attend the November Zoning Meeting

  • Date: Thursday, November 20
  • Time: 5:30 PM
  • Location: 178 Sam’s Street, Decatur, GA 30030 (Multipurpose Room A1201)”

Commissioner Terry

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A fact sheet by the Super District 6 Commission Office. Created on October 3, 2025:

The proposed Data Center regulations are being developed by the DeKalb County Planning and Sustainability Department. This fact sheet was developed by the Super District 6 Office.

Your voice is crucial throughout this process.

Upcoming Data Center Town Hall

CEO Cochran-Johnson, Commissioner Davis Johnson, and Commissioner Bolton are hosting a Data Center Town Hall on Wednesday, October 15, 2025, at the Porter Sanford III Performing Arts Center. Team Commissioner Terry is sharing details on this Town Hall from the CEO’s DeKalb County News Weekly Update below for reference.

CLICK HERE TO REGISTER

“This Town Hall will address key areas including energy and water use, infrastructure and power, cost and economics such as taxation and jobs, as well as scalability and the future of AI and computing demands.

You will hear directly from industry experts and leading authorities who have experience with data center development and infrastructure.

Our goal is to educate and inform, so that every resident has the knowledge needed to make informed decisions about data centers and their impact on our community.”