COVINGTON, Ga. — At the Jan. 20 Covington City Council meeting, council members once more broached the topic of data centers in the city.

Early into the meeting, the council unanimously voted to enact the moratorium that was decided upon at the Jan. 5 meeting. 

With the moratorium now in place, the city will not take any new requests pertaining to data centers for 180 days. The moratorium does not affect any requests that are already under consideration.

During the six-month pause, the city is set to examine and update its data center regulations within its ordinances.

In a turn of events, Council Member Jared Rutberg requested to add two items to the agenda addressing two annexation requests.

One of the requests was for a planned data center site on an Elks Club Road property. The land, owned by Alcovy Rise, LLC, consists of over 1,500 acres. 

The developers, who had been hoping to build a data center on the property, requested annexation into the city limits because Newton County ordinances only permit data centers to be built in the Stanton Springs overlay. At this time, the city has no such restriction in place, only restricting data centers based on the zoning of a parcel, which can be changed.

The Newton County Board of Commissioners, which procedurally sees the request first, voted in opposition to the annexation on Oct. 21, 2025. At Tuesday’s meeting, the city council members voted in a similar fashion.

Rutberg made a motion to “deny and abandon” the request, which passed unanimously with no council discussion.

The council unanimously voted to “deny and abandon” the Falconwood Farms annexation request as well. 

Per a Development of Regional Impact filing with the Georgia Department of Community Affairs (DCA), the owners of Falconwood Farms were seeking to build one million square feet of warehouses on two parcels along Highway 278 after annexing into the city.

Though neither vote included council discussion, Council Member Travis Moore took to Facebook on Wednesday morning to shed additional light on the votes. Per Moore’s post, both proposals created concerns for the council, as well as for city residents living near the properties.

The post, which identified the Falconwood project as a proposed distribution center, lays out concerns like the proximity to the Riverbend Subdivision and how nearby residents could be impacted by noise and light pollution, as well as increased tractor-trailer traffic. 

The Elks Club Road parcel would have to be rezoned from Agricultural to Industrial or Commercial, per Moore’s post, while surrounding properties are zoned Agricultural/Agricultural Residential. 

“This site is essential in the middle of several established subdivisions,” Moore wrote. “...Because of these concerns, council chose not to move forward with annexing either property.”