Bulloch County commissioners have now answered one part of the data center debate: they will not impose the permanent ban presented to them. Their 4-3 decision on September 1 left the county’s temporary moratorium intact through December 31, 2026, while a new citizen working group considers possible regulations.
What the September 1 vote decided
The Bulloch County Board of Commissioners voted 4-3 to deny the zoning text amendment that would have prohibited data centers in unincorporated parts of the county. Chairman David Bennett broke a 3-3 tie in favor of denying the amendment, according to the Statesboro Herald’s report on the September 1 meeting.
Commissioners Timmy Rushing, Ray Davis and Ray Mosley supported denying the ban, while Nick Newkirk, Toby Conner and Anthony Simmons voted against denial. Bennett said an outright ban could expose the county to legal jeopardy and argued that concerns surrounding data centers could instead be addressed through strict rules and careful siting.
The vote did not lift the county’s moratorium, which continues to prevent data center applications through December 31, 2026. Commissioners also unanimously approved the creation of a 21-member working group, with each member of the seven-person board expected to nominate three residents.
How the board reached the September vote
The amendment first reached commissioners on August 4. They did not adopt or reject it that night, voting 3-2 to table it for roughly 30 days while the moratorium remained in force, as WTOC reported after the August meeting.
The proposed amendment defined a data center and excluded the use from the county’s General Business, Heavy Manufacturing and Light Manufacturing zoning categories. Its adoption would therefore have established a continuing prohibition on data centers in unincorporated Bulloch County.
On August 18, Planning and Development Director James Pope presented a different path. The county’s draft-ordinance overview would restrict data centers to overlay zoning districts and impose requirements involving noise, lighting, cooling systems, screening and setbacks.
The draft calls for a general 350-foot setback and a 500-foot setback when a data center in a Light Industrial or Heavy Industrial district borders mixed-use, residential or agricultural property. It also requires closed-loop cooling, municipal water and sewer service, downward-directed lighting and industrial noise testing before a certificate of occupancy could be issued.
The primary-ballot signal remains
Commissioner Nick Newkirk remained the strongest supporter of the permanent ban. At the September 1 meeting, he again pointed to local party questions from the May 2026 primary in which 76% of participating Republicans and 78% of participating Democrats opposed allowing data centers in Bulloch County, according to The Georgia Virtue’s meeting report.
Those questions were advisory party-primary measures, not binding countywide referenda. They nevertheless produced a clear cross-party signal from the voters who participated, making the board’s decision to reject the ban politically significant even though it was legally entitled to take a different course.
The September 1 result does not mean commissioners approved the overlay proposal. That draft has not completed the county’s ordinance-amendment process, and any final version would still require the appropriate hearings and another board decision.
A county decision cannot stop the Statesboro project
The county debate also has a jurisdictional limit. Even if commissioners had adopted the permanent ban, it would not have stopped the proposed data center on Burkhalter Road because that property lies within the City of Statesboro.
Statesboro’s mayor and council approved the property’s rezoning on August 18 in a 3-2 vote, with the mayor casting the tiebreaker. However, the developer still needs a special-use permit, and city officials have said no application had been received as of September 1.
That means the county’s moratorium and possible future regulations apply only to unincorporated Bulloch County. The city-controlled Burkhalter Road proposal will continue through Statesboro’s separate planning and approval process.
Bulloch County is not alone in reconsidering how its zoning code handles data centers. An Atlanta Journal-Constitution review of coastal Georgia found several nearby governments using moratoriums while examining electricity demand, water use, noise, pollution and infrastructure pressures.
What happens before December 31
The outright-ban amendment is now dead, but the broader data center issue remains open. The working group is expected to review the county’s draft regulations and give commissioners feedback that could be used to produce an actionable ordinance.
The December 31 expiration date creates the next deadline. Before then, commissioners will have to decide whether to adopt an overlay-based regulatory system, extend the moratorium, pursue another approach or allow the temporary restrictions to expire.
The September 1 vote therefore settled the choice between an immediate permanent ban and continued study. What it did not settle is where data centers could eventually be permitted, what restrictions they would face or whether the county will have permanent rules ready when the moratorium ends.
Correction context: An earlier working headline incorrectly described the August 4 action as a 4-3 rejection of the ban. Commissioners actually tabled the amendment 3-2 on August 4, then rejected it 4-3 on September 1 while leaving the moratorium in effect through December 31, 2026.