Debate and candor create interesting rezoning meeting
The Bartow County Planning Commission voted unanimously Monday night to submit a recommendation for denial for a proposed data center on Brown Farm Road. The denial will now go to Commissioner Steve Taylor to consider.
The Bartow County Commissioner’s meeting is scheduled for Sept. 2 at 10 a.m. in the commissioner’s meeting room, unless the county changes the location to accommodate the public. Taylor usually goes with the planning commission’s recommendation, but isn’t bound to do so.
The data center public hearing was part of the regular planning commission meeting, even though it was moved to Courtroom D of the courthouse. Hundreds attended with many signing up to speak in opposition. The planning commission heard from eight speakers, plus an additional one in support. It cut off opposition speaking time at 30 minutes. The data center representatives also had a 30 minute time limit for their presentation and rebuttal.
From the beginning of the meeting, Commission Chairman Boyd Morris warned those attending not to interrupt those speaking on the other agenda items or during the data center presentation. His warning, with the addendum that board members were unpaid volunteers, was repeated throughout the meeting as the crowd sometimes spoke out, murmured, and got rowdy.
“We’re going to have order,” Morris said. “We are going to be nice to each other.”
The meeting started with a letter from State Rep. Matthew Gambill opposing the project. Zoning officials read notes from staff with a notation of the power use required and opposition from the Etowah Valley Historical Society because the land lies in the National Registry of Historic Places.
The Brown Farm is a historical spot, and the land has history with the Cherokee Nation. Both Eastern and Western Cherokee Bands were notified of the proposal, but no representatives appeared at the meeting.
The Reason for Denial
The commission expressed no opinions as Lester Tate, attorney for data center developer Oakley Real Estate Property, made his presentation. Members asked questions of Reid Hanner of Oakley and of an engineer without comment. The commission also listened to opponents without any expression, but peppered questions to some like architect James Mott. Morris occasionally answered speakers’ questions about county policy and closed loop water systems while sprinkling in jokes and references to relationships they had in common.
Some speakers offered returned comments.
“You just let him speak longer because he’s your friend,” Marty Knight quipped about a previous speaker when she was told her three minutes at the podium were up. Commission members and the audience laughed. Morris let her finish her statement.
It was uncertain how the commission would vote until the discussion leading up to the decision.
It was then that commission member Greg Bowen spoke.
“I don’t mean to be, sound, argumentative, but we’ve stirred the whole end of the county up,” Bowen said. “If there is a cart before the horse, this is it. I don’t see anything to vote on here.”
Bowen was referring to the answers to two specific questions. Where was the data center going to get its power? Who were going to be their clients?
Hanner was asked if the company had talked to Georgia Power. He evaded the question, saying they were talking with many power providers. Questioned further, he admitted the company didn’t have a power commitment.
He was also asked about whether the data center would be speculative or have end-use clients. Hanner said it would be for end-use clients but, eventually after more questioning, said they didn’t have any committed.
Tate said it was a conundrum because you had to have power commitments before you can get end-use clients. You needed project approval before you could proceed with power commitments, he said.
Morris agreed it was a chicken-egg scenario, but added that there was only 2.8 percent of available power and data centers were competing for that.
Another question was about construction and if a builder was selected. Company representatives told commission members that wasn’t decided and they would put the project out to bid.
Commission members questioned Hanner about already starting construction on the property after one neighboring landowner said bulldozers had already disturbed the land.
Hanner evaded answering the question directly.
“It has not been built on. It is not being farmed. It is raw land,” he said.
The crowd erupted in cheers and applause when the votes were to deny. Denial came in two votes. One was for the change of the land use map and the other was for rezoning from agricultural to business industry district.
The Presentation
The land tract up for discussion was 86 acres sandwiched mostly between the Etowah River and industrial properties. There are train tracks nearby and residential properties on the other side of the site. Tate made the argument that rezoning to business use was a natural continuation of the industrial properties nearby that included a freight company, the Cartersville Airport, and 86 Lumber.
He said the property was on the market previously for 300 residential units, but that didn’t work out and that it wasn’t usable for anything else. Tate said the Georgia Power electrical infrastructure was in place so other properties wouldn’t be affected.
Company representatives said the data center would employ 50, which most in the audience didn’t believe.
The primary argument Tate gave for approving the request was that it was compliant with new and existing county ordinances on data centers and zoning. Tate said the public has a misconception about data centers.
“I won’t wade into all the fallacies,” Tate said, “but opposition is not a reason for denying a rezoning request.”
He said the board can’t let public sentiment be a reason to deny as people can have many views about various businesses. He cited opposition to guns in a rezoning for a gun shop as an example.
Howard Smith, who owns land just feet away from the proposed site, spoke in favor the rezoning. He said opponents referring to the land as “our land” posed a problem for him.
“It’s not their property,” Smith said. “It’s the Browns’ property. They chose to sell it for this use. They will continue to have property next door so if any are affected, it would be them.”
The Opposition
Paul Muir, a local property owner of 2,000 acres, was the first to speak. He said Tate’s opposition argument was wrong.
“Guns are protected by the Second Amendment. Data centers aren’t in the Constitution,” Muir said. He said he is convinced that Georgia Power would expand the infrastructure and eventually come for his land. He has already faced eminent domain three times, he said.
“The county doesn’t want it,” he said, adding that freedom to protest and resist government overreach dates back to the American Revolution. “I represent my Founding Fathers down to my American spirit. This is just [expletive] to me.”
Muir left the podium to audience cheering and applause, saying he was going to run for county commissioner in 2028. Law enforcement asked him to leave the room and he complied.
Mott said the site was inappropriate for a data center but he wouldn’t mind other types of businesses or residential use. He said the data center would have no benefits from this specific property or the Etowah River, making it an inappropriate site.
“They are on the river. They won’t benefit from the river because they swear they won’t use the water” Mott said.
The Etowah River became a focal point of opponents’ arguments. Knight, who is a descendent of the Stiles family settling 190 years ago by the river in Euharlee, said the Etowah is important for fresh water.
“The Etowah River is a vitally important river for distributing water to many towns and cities,” she said, adding that it is the only place where the endangered Cherokee Darter fish can be found.
Others questioned if data center’s closed loop water system could leak into the large aquifer underneath and if the county could trust the company to properly dispose of water, or if the company would hope to not get caught disposing illegally. The talk of forever chemicals in water floated through discussions.
Graham Holden, who owns river property, said Tate’s argument of the rule of law doesn’t mean the commission can’t consider opposition in its decision.
“You have discernment in making decisions,” he said.
Gerald Whatley, who owns 200 acres near where a previous data center site was denied, said the problem is that data centers want to locate in residential areas.
“It’s not fluid. It’s just piece milling this industry across in neighborhoods. We need to make a designated area for these,” he said, adding that they could then have military security since data centers are designated part of national security. For more on the national debate, click here.
One woman said it is up to society to protect the environment for the future.
“Mother Nature is done playing nicely. She is pissed and using her Batman voice,” she said.
She said this generation may not feel the effects of data centers, but their grandchildren would.
Melody Dareing is a freelance writer for publications in the U.S, Canada, the UK and Germany. She is a former news director of Adelphia Channel 4 and WBHF Radio. She is on Facebook, X, YouTube, content on Substack, and has a podcast on Rumble.