SOCIAL CIRCLE, Ga. — In a quirk of timing, the Social Circle City Council got a look Thursday at requested annexation, rezoning, special-use permit, and future land use map changes for a two-building, 497,200-square-foot data center proposed for slightly more than 123 acres at 1402 Roy Malcom Road in Walton County.

That look came prior to the council receiving any recommendation from the Social Circle Planning Commission, which serves the council in an advisory capacity on zoning and related issues.

The planning commission had previously seen the requests, but voted to table them, and is scheduled to consider them again at a series of public hearings on each request set for 6 p.m. Monday (April 6) in the City Community Room at 138 East Hightower Trail.

The requests were tabled to allow time for neighboring property owners to be notified by the applicant for the proposed annexation and zoning actions. Any recommendations from the planning commission will be forwarded to the city council, which could vote on those recommendations at its April 21 meeting, scheduled for 6:30 p.m. in the City Community Room.

Both meetings will include opportunities for public comment on each of the requests.

The data center project is being pursued by Thomas & Hutton, a Savannah-based enterprise that offers a full range of data center design and planning services. The project reportedly will be part of a broader development encompassing two adjoining properties, according to information from Thursday’s non-voting council work session.

Councilmembers and Social Circle City Manger Eric Taylor were somewhat frustrated Thursday that there was no documentation available regarding how the three properties would be developed, making it difficult to determine, in particular, how vehicular entry and exit into the properties would be arranged.

“We’re making assumptions without seeing the full picture,” Taylor said during Thursday’s council discussion.

According to information provided by Thomas & Hutton to Social Circle’s planning staff, the proposed data center is not being built speculatively, and has an end user identified.

In dealing with a string of previous annexation, rezoning and special-use requests, city officials, including planning commissioners and city council members, were particularly concerned with whether the requesting developer had an end user lined up for their project.

In an informal transcript of a required public meeting held by Thomas & Hutton regarding the 1402 Roy Malcom Road annexation and related requests, the company notes it was asked, “Is this a speculation or an actually project?” and responded by stating, “This project has an operator identified and is not speculative development.”

Asked at the same March 12 public meeting when work on the planned data center buildings would begin if the annexation, rezoning, special-use and future land use requests were granted, attendees were told, “Construction could start as early as Fall 2026,” according to the informal meeting transcript.

Faced last year with a deluge of annexation, rezoning, special-use and related request for data centers, the city council enacted a 90-day moratorium on applications for data centers on Sept. 15.

The moratorium was extended for another 90 days as of Dec. 15, with expiration set for March 15 of this year. However, the city council voted unanimously in January to amend city codes related to data centers and special-use permitting, triggering a provision of the moratorium that called for its termination as soon as the city put data center regulations in place.

Among the code changes put in place by the city council to regulate data centers are noise limits; regular inspections by the city; water, sewer and gas impact studies, and stringent requirements for fencing and vegetative screening.