Gosport Council considers data center ordinance, approves 2027 budget

The Town of Gosport is considering an ordinance that aims to thwart data center development by restricting the access potential developers have to local resources.  

At the town council’s Sept. 8 meeting, town attorney Terry English introduced a reading of the proposed ordinance, with the council members approving its addition to the Sept. 22 meeting agenda for consideration. 

English said that although the town does not have the power to enact an outright ban of a lawful business operating within town limits, it can create ordinances for the good of the town.  

“We don't have the ability to do that by law,” English said. “However, the public health and welfare does give us the ability to oversee construction of processes or buildings and such things. (It) also gives us the power to restrict what they can do and how they can operate if they do in fact locate in the town of Gosport.” 

According to the proposed ordinance, its purpose is to “ensure that such facilities are compatible with local land use, to minimize environmental impacts, to protect natural resources, to contribute positively to the community, and to encourage transparency, efficiency, and public accountability.” 

The ordinance devised three main regulations. First, any data centers in the town of Gosport must be completely independent of the local electrical grid. This section of the ordinance emphasized that the center can have “no negative impact on power availability or cost to the residents of the town of Gosport.” 

Bloomberg reported that near significant data center activity, electricity costs grew to up to 267% more for a single month, compared to five years ago.  

Additionally, the ordinance requires that data centers be independent from local water resources — such as wells, town water, lakes, rivers, ponds and streams — and have tanked water brought to the site. It also requires that the water is managed by a closed loop non-evaporating system. This type of system involves reusing water used to cool the computer systems to avoid daily water discharge.  

A medium-sized data center has the capability to swallow up around 300,000 gallons of water each day, equating to usage from about 1,000 United States households, NPR reported.  

The proposed ordinance also looks toward the future, stipulating that data centers in the town must abide by all the town’s current and future regulations. Any violations of the ordinance are subject to a $2,500 fine per day, per parcel of land.  

“We are sort of ripe for them to come in and do something,” English said. 

This ordinance follows other efforts to give local Owen County government control over data center development. At the Aug. 20 Owen County Board of Commissioners meeting, Michael Broach, local resident and Marion Township Trustee candidate, explained the impact of data center development on Boone County, his former home.  

Broach said the LEAP facility construction, including a Meta data center, caused mass construction that ruined his life. Residents dealt with constant traffic, he said. Data center campuses can span hundreds of acres, and have brought up concerns over noise pollution and land conversion. 

The commissioners also discussed data centers at the Aug. 6 meeting, according to meeting minutes. In this meeting, commissioner Sam Hobbs said he acknowledged the concerns related to data center development but also recognized economic development benefits.  

According to the Georgia Institute of Technology, data centers can bring a 3.5 percent increase in employment and five percent increase in wages within the county.  

Right now, no developers are known to be planning data center construction in Owen County, but local residents have shared concerns that without a temporary moratorium or outright ban, development could strike at any moment. 

Gosport budget hearing 

At the end of the meeting, the council moved to recess for a 2027 budget hearing. The adoption meeting will be held Sept. 22 at 301 N. Ninth St.  

Council president Marian McGee read off each budgeted amount, starting with the estimated civil max levy, which is $109,093. The property tax cap credit estimate is $7,800. The general fund budget estimate is $269,184. The local road and street budget is $12,500, and the motor vehicle highway budget is $126,359.

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