A 30-day emergency moratorium passed February 18 expires March 18. What happens next remains an open question.
COVINGTON — On February 18, the Newton County Board of Commissioners voted unanimously to enact an emergency moratorium on data center permit applications. County staff were given 30 days to review and update the Unified Development Ordinance before any new proposals could move forward.
That window expires March 18.
Development Services Director Shena Applewhaite told the board the county had been hit with an influx of data center applications and inquiries. Newton County's zoning limits data centers to the Stanton Springs overlay, but that has not stopped developers. It has pushed them toward incorporated cities like Covington and Social Circle, where zoning rules are different and annexation requests can get around the county's restrictions entirely.
"All of the requests for data centers have come through the cities, not to the county," said District 5 Commissioner LeAnne Long.
The City of Covington enacted its own 180-day moratorium in January and has already voted to deny two annexation requests tied to data center proposals. At the same January 20 meeting, the council passed Mayor Fleeta Baggett's resolution to eliminate residential property taxes entirely, replacing that revenue with income from an Amazon data center currently under construction in the city.
That proposal raises questions no one has publicly answered yet. What are the financial projections behind the Amazon deal? What contractual obligations does the city hold? And what proposals are already in the pipeline, deals the moratorium does not touch because they were filed before the pause?
Commissioner Demond Mason put it plainly at the February 18 meeting. "We are being inundated with all of these requests."
The question now is whether 30 days was enough, and what Newton County does when the clock runs out next week.
CJ Lester Investigates has submitted public records requests to Newton County and the City of Covington seeking data center agreements, financial projections, and a full list of active applications. This story will be updated as records are received.
CJ Lester is the founder of CJ Lester Investigates,
covering government accountability in Rockdale and Newton Counties.
cjlester.com
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