Push to Protect SW Atlanta from Data Centers

Atlanta City Council is under pressure to keep its 2024 limits on data centers in southwest Atlanta as a proposed Adair Park project heads toward a vote in the coming weeks. (ajc.com) The current fight centers on a $500 million Digital Realty proposal to redevelop a vacant former film production site in Adair Park, near the West End MARTA station and the Beltline, about 2 miles southwest of downtown. The project would need a City Council exemption because Atlanta banned new data centers within a half-mile of high-capacity transit stops and the Beltline in September 2024. (ajc.com) (citycouncil.atlantaga.gov) Atlanta’s 2024 rules did two things: they defined what counts as a data center and barred those facilities near transit, while a second ordinance prohibited them inside the Beltline Overlay District. Council approved both ordinances on September 3, 2024. (citycouncil.atlantaga.gov) Neighborhood opposition has already landed on the record. On April 13, 2026, Neighborhood Planning Unit V voted 105-87 against endorsing legislation that would make the Adair Park project possible. (ajc.com) The case now moves through Atlanta’s zoning process before any final council decision. The Zoning Review Board says it reviews rezonings after considering recommendations from Neighborhood Planning Units and city staff, and its published 2026 schedule lists a May 14 hearing, with City Council action expected in June. (atlantaga.gov) (civicatlanta.org) The land-use dispute is bigger than one parcel. Atlanta had positioned itself as one of the largest U.S. cities to push back on the rapid spread of data centers after the artificial intelligence boom intensified demand for server space and power. (ajc.com) Supporters of the Adair Park project say the site is hard to convert into housing because it is polluted and vacant, and some nearby residents have backed the plan for its promised investment, jobs and tax revenue. David Holder, chair of the Mechanicsville Neighborhood Association, said residents closest to the site would “experience the tangible effects” of that investment. (ajc.com) Opponents say land next to a MARTA station should be used for homes, shops and other walkable development instead of a low-employment industrial use. At the April 13 meeting, NPU-V land use chair Donald Shockey said mixed-use development would better fit the transit location and the site’s opportunity cost was the core issue. (ajc.com) The southwest Atlanta debate is also unfolding as Georgia lawmakers leave broader data-center policy unsettled. The General Assembly ended its 2026 session without passing bills to curb tax breaks or shield residential customers from some power infrastructure costs, and a state report estimated Georgia will forgo $2.5 billion in tax revenue in 2026 because of existing incentives. (ajc.com) For now, the immediate question is narrower: whether Atlanta will stick to the half-mile rule it adopted in 2024 or carve out an exception for the first major project to test it. (citycouncil.atlantaga.gov) (ajc.com)