Social Circle Planning Commission recommends latest data center request

The Social Circle Planning Commission has unanimously recommended that the city council approve a series of requests—annexation, rezoning, special-use permitting, and future land use map changes—for a 123-acre parcel at 1402 Roy Malcom Road. This parcel represents the final component of a planned 450-acre data center complex. During a recent meeting, the four present planning commission members — Curtis Mullins, Signora Jackson, Glenda Brown, and Chairman John Gardner — voted in favor of the recommendations. Scott Greene of Thomas & Hutton, an engineering and design consulting firm, represented the property owner and addressed the commission's primary concerns regarding potential traffic increases on Roy Malcom Road. Greene assured commissioners that roadway improvements would accompany any new access points and that tractor-trailer traffic would be minimal post-construction. This approval process follows previous council votes on other tracts within the proposed data center development. A 150-acre parcel was cleared for data center use in November, and an 181-acre tract was approved in September 2023. At that September meeting, the city council also instituted a moratorium on new data center requests, which expired on January 27 after comprehensive new regulations were approved. Since the latest requests for the 1402 Roy Malcom Road tract were filed on February 9, they are being considered under these new regulations. Representatives for the project indicate they have an "end user" for the facilities, though the company has not been identified. If the final approvals are granted by the city council at its anticipated April 21 meeting, construction on the massive data center complex could commence this fall.