An aerial view of the Meta’s Stanton Springs Data Center on Wednesday, Sept. 3, 2025, in Newton County, Georgia.

An aerial view of the Meta’s Stanton Springs Data Center on Wednesday, Sept. 3, 2025, in Newton County, Ga.

Credit: Katie Tucker/The Telegraph

The Jones County Board of Commissioners rescinded a series of ordinances pertaining to data centers Tuesday night due to concerns that those laws may not have been passed legally.

The ordinances were passed on Sept. 16 as a proactive measure due to data center projects popping up in a number of neighboring counties, officials said in September.

The ordinances do not prohibit building data centers, but limit them to certain commercial properties and outline parameters for their construction. The ordinances also banned cryptocurrency facilities.

However, commissioners formally rescinded the ordinances Tuesday, saying residents weren’t given proper notice of the changes in the county’s legal organ.

Under Georgia law, localities making changes to zoning rules must hold a hearing about the changes and publicize it in a local newspaper 15 to 45 days prior. Officials said they did not publicize the change far enough in advance.

District 1 Commissioner Sam Kitchens said during the meeting the error could’ve left the county vulnerable to lawsuits from data center developers and allies who wished to invalidate the ordinances. Kitchens also said it would give the county time to better understand the impacts of data centers on surrounding communities.

“There was some discussion about whether there was a legitimate text amendment to begin with because of the timeline of advertising,” Kitchens said. “I felt like planning and zoning was probably rushed.”

Commissioners said they plan to put the ordinances back in place, this time with proper notifications.

Data centers have been a hot topic in Jones County.

Shortly after the ordinances were passed, a developer proposed rezoning more than 600 acres of agricultural land for a data center project. The proposal was met with backlash from residents, and the developer pulled the application before commissioners could vote on it.

The county then passed a 90-day moratorium on data center projects to study the impacts of data centers and to take time to develop rules and regulations around them.

This story comes to GPB through a reporting partnership with Macon Telegraph.

Tags: Georgia  Jones County  data centers  Property  construction  cryptocurrency  zoning