The Cherokee County Board of Commissioners voted unanimously on August 18, 2026 to extend the county's pause on data center construction applications by 180 days. The extension more than doubles the length of the original moratorium.
The first pause ran 30 days and passed in July 2026. County officials said at the time that they intended to revisit it in August and extend it. The stated purpose of the added time is to let county staff research and draft a specific set of regulations governing data center development.
Cherokee County currently has no dedicated ordinance covering data center construction, which means applications would be reviewed under general zoning and land use rules written for other purposes. There are no pending data center applications in the county at present, so the extension does not stop an active project.
The vote places Cherokee County among a growing set of Georgia local governments that have paused or restricted data center approvals while they write rules. Metro Atlanta has become the second-largest data center market in the country behind Northern Virginia, and county commissions across the region have taken up questions about power supply, water consumption, land use, tax treatment, and setback and noise standards.
A moratorium of this type typically expires on its own date unless a board votes again to extend it or replaces it with a permanent ordinance. Cherokee County staff are expected to bring proposed regulations forward during the 180-day window.
The vote was reported by Sam Sachs for WSB-TV Channel 2 Atlanta.
Source: WSB-TV - https://www.wsbtv.com/news/local/cherokee-county/data-center-moratorium-more-than-doubled-after-metro-atlanta-commission-vote/AXUQYR3EQZCVFCYTB6JZCZ7VME/