Forest Park GA 90-day data center moratorium (2026)

City of Forest Park, Ga. (Clayton County) — 90-DAY data center moratorium approved by the City Council on the 31st, to give the city time to DRAFT CHANGES TO ITS ZONING LAWS. THE STATED DEFECT IS THE POINT OF THIS ENTRY: under Forest Park's current zoning regulations DATA CENTERS ARE ALLOWED BY RIGHT. City Manager CARL GEFFKEN stated that the by-right posture is WHY DIGITAL REALTY WAS ABLE TO COME TO FOREST PARK AND BUILD A NEW DATA CENTER. A by-right use is approved administratively against fixed standards with no discretionary review and no council vote; the municipality has no occasion to examine power draw, water consumption, noise, generator siting or buffering, and no lawful basis to refuse. THIS IS THE SINGLE MOST CONSEQUENTIAL AND LEAST VISIBLE CODE CONDITION IN THIS SUBJECT AREA, and Forest Park is among the few jurisdictions in this dataset to state on the record that a facility ALREADY GOT BUILT THAT WAY. Compare North Richland Hills TX data center SUP regulations (2026), which converted data centers FROM by-right TO special-use permit \u2014 the single most consequential regulatory step short of prohibition \u2014 and Clayton OH 365-day data center moratorium (2026), where the code lacked a definition entirely and a data center could enter as a warehouse. A jurisdiction reviewing its exposure should ask both questions: is the use defined, and is it by right. STATED POSTURE, which distinguishes Forest Park from most entries here: Geffken said 'Our goal, frankly, is to not stop data centers', citing benefits including additional funding for city infrastructure, economic development and public safety. The city seeks REVIEW AUTHORITY rather than exclusion. strength is `limited`: 90 days is among the shortest terms in this dataset, imposes no substantive standard, and will have lapsed or been extended \u2014 the operative instrument will be the zoning amendment that follows, which is not yet indexed.