Brookhaven, GA Data Centers & Crypto Mining: Data Center Zoning & Siting (2026)

Sec. 27-647 is the Brookhaven zoning code's data center section. It was added when Ordinance No. 2024-02-01, adopted February 27, 2024, rewrote Division 7 of Article VII, the industrial uses division, and it is filed there as a use called data processing. The definition reaches a building, a dedicated space within a building that constitutes at least 50% of the floor area, or a group of structures housing a large group of computer systems for remote storage, processing or distribution of large amounts of data, with blockchain technology and cryptocurrency mining named as examples. The code lists air handlers, power generators, water cooling and storage facilities and utility substations as associated facilities.

The supplemental regulations apply to the location of a new data processing use, an expansion of an existing use within a building or site, and an expansion of a building or site that already holds one. The siting numbers are two. All equipment and structures must sit at least fifty feet from the property line, and structures are prohibited within 200 feet of a state waters feature, measured from the point of wrested vegetation or the outer edge of a seawall. Vehicle fuel stations, vehicle maintenance and repair, and laundry facilities carry a 75-foot limits-of-disturbance buffer, so data processing has the wider stream setback of those uses.

Design rules follow the pattern of the other industrial and vehicle uses. At least 35 percent of each exterior facade must be windows or transparent glazed elements, and the Brookhaven Arts and Culture Commission is authorized to waive up to 25 of the 35 percent for one contiguous mural facing a public right-of-way. Exterior materials must be primarily brick, wood, stucco or stone, with masonry wrapping corners, and architectural metals, textured concrete masonry, cementitious fiberboard or EIFS cannot make up the majority of any side. Building walls exceeding 80 continuous linear feet need offsets or other distinctive changes, and ground level and roof top mechanical equipment and loading areas are screened under Chapter 27, Article IX.