Barrow County, GA Data Centers & Crypto Mining: Data Center Zoning & Siting (2026)
Key Facts
- Where it applies
- Only inside the mapped D211 Overlay District
- Governing section
- Barrow County Code § 89-1511(a)(12)
- Adopted
- Ordinance of May 30, 2025, § 2.2
- Enforcing office
- Planning and Community Development Department
- Max civil penalty
- $2,500.00 per day under § 89-1447
Summary
Data centers cannot locate anywhere within unincorporated Barrow County's Destination 211 (D211) Overlay District. Barrow County Code § 89-1511(a)(12) lists data centers among sixteen uses the Planning and Community Development Department must refuse in this overlay, alongside auto dealerships, warehouses and self-storage. The ban covers the servers, storage systems and networking equipment that make up a data center's critical infrastructure.
(12)Data centers. Data centers are prohibited in the D211 District. Data centers are indoor facilities that organizations use to house their critical software applications and data. It contains high-performance servers, storage systems, networking equipment, and other technological infrastructure. Data centers support large-scale operations, cloud computing, and content delivery.
Full Breakdown
The D211 Overlay is not countywide zoning: Barrow County Code § 89-1503 defines it as specific parcels along Highway 124, Old Victron Road, Beaver Dam Road, Castle Gibson Road, Covered Bridge Road, Charlie Hall Road, Freeman Johnson Road, Highway 211 NW, Lee Stone Road, Old Hog Mountain Road and Old Thomson Mill Road, adopted May 30, 2025 to steer the Destination 211 growth area toward tourism, employment and mixed-use development rather than heavy commercial or industrial uses. Section 89-1511(a) prohibits data centers outright there, in the same list as automobile body shops, gas stations, impound facilities, wrecking yards, new cemeteries, new manufactured home parks, motels, self-storage and warehousing.
The ordinance defines a data center as an indoor facility housing critical software, high-performance servers, storage systems and networking equipment supporting cloud computing and content delivery, so the exclusion reaches colocation buildings and hyperscale server farms alike. Because the prohibition sits in the D211-specific Article XV rather than the countywide use tables in UDC Article II, a data center proposal outside the mapped D211 boundary is not blocked by this section; it would instead be evaluated under the base zoning district's permitted-use list, which this record does not address.
Within D211, the Planning and Community Development Director reviews all development applications and has no discretion to permit a listed prohibited use administratively; a rezoning or ordinance amendment by the Board of Commissioners would be required to allow one. Applicants who submit site plans, land disturbance permits or building permit applications for a data center inside the mapped overlay will have the application rejected at intake review.
Violations & Fines
Attempting to build or operate a data center inside the D211 boundary is a Unified Development Code violation. Under Barrow County Code § 89-1447, violating any UDC provision is a misdemeanor, and the magistrate court may impose a civil penalty of up to $2,500.00 per day the violation continues, in addition to a stop-work order, permit revocation or a withheld certificate of occupancy issued by the Planning and Community Development Director.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I build a data center anywhere in unincorporated Barrow County?
What counts as a data center under the ordinance?
What happens if someone tries to open one in D211 anyway?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Barrow County
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