DeKalb County denies Shadowbox Studios data center plans, faces lawsuit
DeKalb County officials upheld the denial of Shadowbox Studios' plans for a large data center, citing a county-wide moratorium on new data center developments. Shadowbox Studios claims it received prior assurances from the county that the project was permissible and has now filed a lawsuit to continue its efforts.
DeKalb County officials have upheld the denial of plans by Shadowbox Studios to construct a massive 1 million-square-foot data center on 155 acres along International Park Drive in south DeKalb County. The decision comes after the county enacted and extended a moratorium on new data centers, which currently runs through the end of March.
Shadowbox attorney Simon Bloom stated that the studio had invested $37 million in developing the land, relying on three written confirmations from the county's planning department that a data center was permitted on the site. Bloom argues that the subsequent moratorium, which now prevents the project, is unjust.
DeKalb County Zoning Board of Appeals member Eric Hubbard suggested that the core issue is a legal question that should be addressed by the courts. Shadowbox Studios has since filed a lawsuit against DeKalb County in Superior Court, indicating its intent to persist in moving the project forward. Other metro Atlanta counties, including Cobb, Cherokee, and Clayton, have also implemented similar moratoriums to study the impact of data centers on local infrastructure, such as electrical grids and water resources.