Here is the 180-day datacenter moratorium that the City of Adel, Georgia, passed on July 6, 2026.

Adel, Georgia, Datacenter Moratorium, 180 days, July 6, 2026

RESOLUTION No. 26-02

RESOLUTION FOR A MORATORIUM ON THE CONSIDERATION, PROCESSING, AND ACCEPTANCE OF APPLICATIONS OF NEW BUSINESS LICENSES, BUILDING PERMITS, OR OTHER APPROVALS FOR THE CONSTRUCTION OR DEVELOPMENT OF DATA CENTERS WITHIN THE CITY OF ADEL

WHEREAS, the Constitution of the State of Georgia provides that the City of Adel enjoys and possesses home rule powers, police powers, zoning/land development powers and the ability to license and regulate certain businesses and occupations within the boundaries of the City; and

WHEREAS, the City of Adel shall have, inter alia, the full power and authority to license, regulate, control, or prohibit all businesses (Adel City Charter, Sec. 26);

WHEREAS, the City of Adel may, in the interest of public health, safety, order, convenience, comfort, prosperity, or general welfare, adopt by ordinance a plan or plans for the districting or zoning of the City for the purpose of regulating the location of trades, industries, apartment houses, dwellings, or other uses of property (Adel City Charter, Sec. 24);

WHEREAS, the City of Adel may define and prohibit nuisances within the corporate limits of said City (Adel City Charter, Sec. 27);

WHEREAS, the Mayor and Council of the City of Adel may enact and revise ordinances to regulate the issuance of licenses and permits for the construction, development, establishment, and operation of data centers within the City;

WHEREAS, the Mayor and Council of the City of Adel find there is a present need to review and revise the ordinances, zoning regulations, land development standards, licensing requirements, and nuisance regulations relating to the construction, location, placement, and operation of data centers within the City;

WHEREAS, data centers are a relatively new and evolving land use consisting of specialized facilities designed to train, operate, or support artificial intelligence models, and the full scope of their potential effects on local infrastructure, natural resources, surrounding land uses, and public health, safety, and welfare is not yet fully known;

WHEREAS, data centers may consume substantial quantities of water for cooling and related operations, creating potential impacts on local water resources;

WHEREAS, data centers may consume substantial amounts of electricity, potentially contributing to grid reliability concerns and increased electricity costs borne by residential consumers;

WHEREAS, data centers may require large expanses of land to operate and may affect agricultural areas and recreational spaces within and near the City;

WHEREAS, data centers may produce continuous noise from servers, cooling equipment, and generators, which may create nuisance impacts for neighboring properties and residents;

WHEREAS, during the term of this temporary moratorium, the City Manager or his designee are in the process of evaluating standards and regulations and intend to present appropriate ordinances or amendments to existing zoning regulations concerning data centers within the City;

WHEREAS, the City of Adel wishes to place the public and all parties on notice that it is considering such ordinances and amendments to existing ordinances and that, for a limited period reasonably necessary to complete that review, it is creating a temporary moratorium on the acceptance, processing, and consideration of applications for construction, development, and building permits concerning properties located with the City;

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED by the Mayor and Council of the City of Adel, and it is hereby so resolved by the authority of the same as follows:

(1) The WHEREAS paragraphs are incorporated herein as findings of the Mayor and Council of the City of Adel; and

(2) A moratorium is hereby enacted on the acceptance, processing and consideration of any application for a data center site or issuance of any permit for construction of such, for a period of one hundred eighty (180) days, or until repealed by an act of Mayor and Council, whichever is sooner.

(3) This Moratorium shall not apply to any license or permit applications properly submitted prior to the enactment of this Resolution.

(4) Any person affected by this Moratorium may submit a written request for an exception or appeal to the Mayor and Council. In considering any such request, the Mayor and Council may consider whether the applicant has presented convincing evidence that application of the Moratorium would result in a hardship, that the proposed activity is not reasonably likely to result in the harms identified in the findings of this Resolution, or that other circumstances warrant relief consistent with the public health, safety, and welfare.

SO RESOLVED, this 6th day of July, 2026.

CITY OF ADEL, GEORGIA
[signed]
L. Buddy Duke, Mayor

ATTEST:
[signed Rhonda P. Rowe]
City Clerk

Here is a video of the motion, second, voting, and discussion, thanks to Concerned Citizens of Cook County.

https://www.facebook.com/reel/1506740301496748/

Thanks to County Clerk Rhonda Rowe for sending the moratorium in response to an open records request.

RESOLUTION No. 26-02: RESOLUTION FOR A MORATORIUM ON THE CONSIDERATION, PROCESSING, AND ACCEPTANCE OF APPLICATIONS OF NEW BUSINESS LICENSES, BUILDING PERMITS, OR OTHER APPROVALS FOR THE CONSTRUCTION OR DEVELOPMENT OF DATA CENTERS WITHIN THE CITY OF ADEL
PDF

(2) A moratorium is hereby enacted on the acceptance, processing and consideration of any application for a data center site or issuance of any permit for construction of such, for a period of one hundred eighty (180) days, or until repealed by an act of Mayor and Council, whichever is sooner.

Adel City Council, 2026-07-21 —City of Adel

Adel City Council 2026-07-06 –Concerned Citizens of Cook County

 -jsq, John S. Quarterman, Suwannee RIVERKEEPER®

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