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

Sec. 48, added by Ord. No. 2024-034, § 4 (9-24-2024), begins with a 20-acre minimum lot area, then layers on transitional standards. Where a data center adjoins single-family residential property, building height is limited to 40 vertical feet for the first 100 feet measured from the shared property line. A 50-foot planted landscape strip is required along any adjoining public road, though natural topography and existing vegetation can substitute if the Director finds it screens as effectively. Against residential property, a 100-foot buffer applies, with the first 25 feet left undisturbed and natural except for approved fencing, access and utility crossings; the remaining 75 feet may be disturbed if replanted with at least three rows of evergreen shrubs at least four feet tall.

Building facades over 250 feet facing a public road must be articulated with windows, recessed panels or similar features, and loading bays facing a public road or residential use must be screened. Cooling, ventilation and emergency power equipment located closer to a road or residential use than the principal building must be enclosed or screened with a 12-inch opaque barrier and dense vegetation. Substations, treated as accessory to the data center, cannot sit within 300 feet of an adjoining public road, and an energy use study is required before a land disturbance permit issues. Parking is set at a minimum of three spaces per 1,000 gross square feet of office space in the development.