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# CALL TO ACTION: Demand Commissioner Bolton Withdraw Her Data Center Ordinance on October 13
- URL: https://www.dekalbcoalition.org/call-to-action-demand-commissioner-bolton-withdraw-her-data-center-ordinance-on-october-13/
- Published: 2026-10-08T15:00:43.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-08T18:18:14.000Z
- Author: DeKalb Citizens Coalition
- Tags: Call to action

**This Tuesday, October 13th @ 9:00 a.m.**, the Board of Commissioners (BOC) will consider a new data center zoning ordinance. The meeting will be held at **178 Sams Street, Decatur, GA 30030**.

Introduced last week by At-Large District 7 Commissioner LaDena Bolton, **the new ordinance will allow the development of hyperscale AI data centers UP TO A MILLION SQUARE FEET in DeKalb County WITH NO PROTECTIONS.** 

DeKalb Citizens Coalition has drafted **a counter-proposal which does not allow hyperscale/AI or campus data centers, yet recognizes the need for conventional (traditional) data center operations to support everyday commerce.** It limits the size and location of data centers, and includes buffer zones and other protections to minimize the negative impacts on residents and communities. It limits noise and light effects, and protects our water, air quality, health, property values, and overall quality of life. 

**Come to the meeting and speak out! *Demand that Commissioner Bolton withdraw her ordinance because it does not protect DeKalb residents and DOES NOT REFLECT THE WILL OF THE PEOPLE our Commissioners were elected to represent.*** 

***Demand that the BOC consider the PEOPLE’s substitute data center ordinance instead***, which is outlined below. 

Any questions or concerns regarding the Coalition’s counter-proposal can be directed to *dekalbcoalition@currently.com*.

In solidarity ✊,

DeKalb Citizens Coalition

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**dekalbcoalition@currently.com*

### **DeKalb Citizens Coalition Proposed Requirements for a Data Center Text Amendment**

1. Commission a countywide Health and Environmental Impact Study conducted by an independent third-party before lifting the moratorium.
2. **Citizens demand a ban on the development of large, hyperscale AI data centers and data center campuses in DeKalb County. If the County is legally unable to do so, we recognize the need for Conventional (traditional) data center operations to support commerce.**
3. Allow only up to 100,000 square-foot single-structure data centers as far away as possible, but no less than one mile, from residential neighborhoods, schools, day care centers, senior facilities, hospitals, parks and wherever there are other vulnerable populations or environmentally sensitive areas.
4. Allow only standalone data centers, with no substations, that are no less than a mile apart from each other (no clustering).
5. Mandate strict regulations on safe disposal of contaminated water.
6. Draft an enforceable compliance plan with effective oversight, remedies, penalties and accountability; require quarterly compliance inspections/reviews.
7. Require an application for a Special Land Use Permit (SLUP) for every development and expansion, including repurposed buildings.
8. Require a third-party updated health and environmental impact study for every development.
9. Provide public access to all estimates of power and water usage, studies, and other reports, including compliance monitoring.
10. Mandate a decommission surety bond for restoration of the site when data center facilities are no longer in use.
11. **The only other acceptable alternative is to impose a moratorium on data center development until the requirements of the 2011 Federal Consent Decree pertaining to our decaying county water system have been met.**