Judge orders Talbot County to remove data center text amendment from zoning
A Georgia judge ordered Talbot County to remove a zoning text amendment that added data centers and hyperscale data centers as authorized uses. The court found the amendment was adopted without required notice, planning review and public hearings, allowing plaintiff WCR and local residents to overturn it.
Chattahoochee Judicial Circuit Superior Court Judge John Martin ruled that Talbot County’s Aug. 3 zoning text amendment adding data centers and hyperscale data centers was not adopted in compliance with Georgia law or the county’s own procedures. The amendment was approved without the required notice, public hearing and involvement from Talbot County Planning.
The ruling followed a challenge by WCR, a Talbot County business owned by Ronnie Wilson. The parties agreed that the amendment should be voided, leaving data centers unauthorized in every Talbot County zoning district under the prior ordinance. Wilson and other residents are also involved in a separate Keep It Rural lawsuit challenging Columbus’ data center technology overlay district; that case remains pending, with a bench trial scheduled for Dec. 14.