Marietta data center rules go to a hearing Thursday

Marietta’s first rules for data centers go to a public hearing Thursday. The City Council takes up code amendment CA2026-06 at its 7 p.m. meeting Thursday, Nov. 12, in the Council Chamber at City Hall, 205 Lawrence St.

The Planning Commission recommended approval, 7-0. That is recorded on the council’s Nov. 12 draft agenda, posted Nov. 6. Anyone who speaks at the hearing is sworn in first, the agenda says.

What the amendment changes

The agenda lists three parts of the city’s Comprehensive Development Code, all “regarding data centers”:

• Section 708.27, the Heavy Industrial district: the special uses the council can permit there
• Section 712.01, special land use permits, including the table of uses that need one
• Section 724.02, the code’s definitions of terms

The wording itself was not in the agenda or in the posted meeting packet on Saturday. Until the city publishes it, the agenda does not say where data centers would be allowed or on what terms.

How Marietta got here

The council stopped taking new data center applications in July. A moratorium on rezoning and permit applications for new data centers runs until Dec. 31, 2026, to give staff time to write rules. Our earlier report on the data center rules has the votes and the minutes behind each step.

• July 8: council adopts the moratorium, 7-0.
• Aug. 12: council approves one data center already in the pipeline, at 1155 Powers Ferry Place, 5-2, with 15 conditions.
• Oct. 14: council approves advertising the code changes.
• Oct. 27: the Judicial/Legislative Committee discusses the ordinance again.
• Nov. 12: public hearing and council vote.
• Dec. 31: moratorium ends.

Also on Thursday’s agenda

Other items on the same agenda:

• 29 Doran Street rezoning (Z2026-25). Total Property Advisors LLC asks to rezone 0.52 acres from planned single-family development to R-4, up to four homes an acre. The Planning Commission recommended approval, 7-0. Ward 5A.
• Place of assembly on White Circle (Z2026-26). A special land use permit to allow a place of assembly on 1.1 acres zoned R-2, with parking cut from 50 spaces to one. The Planning Commission recommended denial, 7-0. Ward 5B.
• Auto repair variances at 726 Davis Circle (V2026-34). Goodall Investments LLC asks to let an auto repair shop work outdoors and within 200 feet of homes, and to waive outdoor storage limits.
• Co-responder counselor. $100,000 in opioid settlement money to keep funding the Highland Rivers counselor in the city’s co-responder position.
• City Club Marietta fees. A rate increase at the golf club “to offset general operating expenses.” The agenda does not list the new rates.
• Hickory Drive (South). A speed study from Chestnut Hill Road to Powder Springs Street, and a 25 mph speed limit. Wards 2B and 3A.
• Allgood Road and North Fairground Street truck limits. No through trucks over 18 tons or 30 feet long between Cobb Parkway and North Marietta Parkway, with warning signs on Cobb Parkway. Wards 4 and 5.

The council’s agenda work session is 5:15 p.m. Monday. Its agenda includes a motion to approve a restoration design for Flournoy Park, beside the Cobb County courthouse on Roswell Street, and the preliminary plat for the Roselane development on Jordan and Burnap streets. No design drawings had been posted.

What it means for you

• Want a say on data centers? Speak at the public hearing at 7 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 12, at City Hall. Other topics can go in the unscheduled appearances slot, five minutes a speaker and 30 minutes in all.
• Watch for the wording. The city’s Agenda Center is where any posted draft will appear. We will update this story when it does.
• Live on Hickory Drive, Allgood Road or North Fairground Street? Those changes are on the consent agenda, which the council approves by majority vote.
• Not sure of your ward? Our who to call at City Hall page lists council members, and building permits and zoning explains how zoning cases work.