Camden set to vote on data center moratorium amid Kingsland rezone vote

The Camden County Board of Commissioners is scheduled to vote on a nine-month moratorium on data center development, driven by increasing concerns over the energy demands of such operations and the county's perceived lack of preparedness for them. Commissioner Cody Smith, who introduced the resolution, highlighted the need for careful planning and expressed uncertainty about the moratorium's passage, noting that some officials might prefer implementing an ordinance instead. In parallel, the Kingsland Planning and Zoning Board will address a rezoning request from companies associated with Florida businessman Kirk Tovey. The request seeks to rezone nearly 700 acres along Interstate 95 to allow for data centers, with a portion of the land already within Kingsland city limits and an application to annex the remaining 146 acres. This rezoning debate occurs as Kingsland City Manager Lee Spell recommends that the city council also approve its own data center moratorium. Local opposition to large data centers has been voiced by constituents, according to Commissioner Smith, who emphasized the importance of proactive infrastructure development. The proposed moratorium is viewed as a temporary measure to allow the county to properly prepare for and regulate data center facilities, given that an earlier "rushed-through" data center ordinance at the county level was deemed inadequate. Kingsland itself adopted a data center ordinance in March, a process that faced criticism for potential violations of state public meeting laws.