Augusta Commission Extends Data-Center Moratorium 60 Days

The Augusta Commission voted unanimously July 21 to extend the city’s moratorium on new data centers for 60 days, delaying a decision on permanent regulations while the proposed ordinance receives additional public review.

The moratorium will run approximately through mid-September. Commissioners did not approve or reject the draft ordinance during the vote. Instead, they added three public hearings before taking further action.

Three hearings will be scheduled

The additional hearings are planned for the Warren Road, Diamond Lakes and Henry Brigham community centers. According to local reporting, dates will be set by city administrative staff. Augusta had not posted confirmed dates and times in the records reviewed for this article.

The meetings will give residents and nearby property owners another opportunity to comment on proposed rules involving land use, noise, water, utilities, stormwater and emergency access. The ordinance remains a draft, and its language could change before a future commission vote.

What the proposed ordinance would do

The city’s draft would allow data centers and high-density computing facilities to be considered only in the HI Industrial District. They would not be permitted by right; each project would require special-exception approval and a public hearing before the Augusta Commission.

The draft would also require applicants to provide information about site design, utility service, drainage, traffic, cooling systems, backup power and emergency-response access. Meeting the minimum standards would not guarantee approval. Each application would remain subject to site-specific review, written findings and the applicable public-hearing process.

Proposed safeguards remain under review

For locations next to residential or agricultural property, the draft calls for a 500-foot buffer. Under specified conditions involving planted berms and visual screening, that buffer could be reduced to 300 feet. The draft also sets a proposed noise limit of 65 decibels, measured at the property line of an adjacent parcel, with additional testing and corrective-action requirements.

The proposal would generally require air-cooled or closed-loop cooling systems and would prohibit water-consumptive cooling unless Augusta Utilities approves an exception. It would require applicants to document utility coordination, including anticipated electrical loads and known infrastructure improvements, and to submit stormwater, grading, drainage and erosion-control information.

Applicants would also have to describe generators, fuel tanks and other backup-power systems, including their locations, capacities, containment measures, noise impacts and emergency-response considerations. An emergency-access and safety plan would identify access routes, emergency contacts, electrical isolation points and the locations of backup power and fuel-storage equipment.

If adopted, the draft would require an annual compliance certification covering the approved special exception, site and operations plans, noise, cooling and water-use standards, emergency contacts and material changes to the facility.

Existing projects reportedly outside the moratorium

WRDW/WAGT reported that the moratorium does not affect a data center near the Haynes Station neighborhood, where construction had already begun, or the QTS campus under construction on Gordon Highway.

That distinction is important for residents and developers. The temporary pause applies to new projects covered by the moratorium, while projects already moving forward may be treated differently. The scope of those reported exemptions should be checked against any final moratorium language or later city records.

What Augusta residents should watch next

The next milestones are the city’s hearing notices, any revisions to the draft ordinance and the commission’s eventual vote. Residents, nearby property owners, utility users and prospective developers should review the announced hearing locations and schedules, then compare any revised language with the current proposal.

The eventual decision will determine whether Augusta adopts permanent rules for where data centers can be built and how applications address buffers, noise, cooling, water, utilities, stormwater, emergency access, backup power and ongoing compliance.

Sources

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