Savannah is writing its rulebook for data centers before anyone has asked to build one. City Council held a workshop Thursday to talk about where and how data centers will be allowed in the city, WTOC reported.
Council passed a moratorium on data centers months ago, with the goal of putting an ordinance in place. Right now, the city has no ordinance covering "hyper-scale" data centers, according to the station.
Not all data centers are the same
Mayor Van Johnson pointed out that data centers are already common in Savannah, just not the kind measured in acres.
"There's a data center in this building, we have data centers in our offices, in our homes," Johnson said, according to WTOC.
City Manager Jay Melder made a similar point, calling right-sized data centers critical infrastructure for the city.
"We have data centers here in Savannah that have been for decades, they serve hospitals, schools, governments, businesses, we need to be able to account for it, this ordinance is gonna let us do it," Melder said.
That distinction matters. Small server rooms and the facilities that support hospitals and businesses are a different animal from the massive campuses that have drawn attention elsewhere. Savannah's ordinance appears aimed at drawing a line between the two.
Special-use permits and resident input
After the workshop, Johnson said the council decided residents need to be part of the decision-making process.
He described an ordinance that would look at "where in the city they could be, where they are already, where we would not want them to be," and, most importantly, create a way for residents to speak to council before a project is approved.
Johnson said the process would involve residents and council directly, turning data center proposals into special-use permits.
District 4 Alderman Nick Palumbo urged his colleagues to take their time. "I encourage us to please be as deliberative as possible, be as selective as possible, and the work to decommission them as diligent as possible," he said.
Palumbo's mention of decommissioning is worth noting. It suggests the council is thinking not just about how data centers get built, but about what happens to them at the end of their useful life.
Getting ahead of the issue
Melder stressed that there is no specific project driving the effort.
"This is getting ahead of the issue, we don't have a project that's been proposed, this is about getting ahead of the issue so we've got our ducks in a row," he said.
He said multiple city departments have worked on the ordinance and many agencies are involved in the discussions. WTOC reported the council is working to include residents in each discussion before making a decision.
What comes next
The station's report did not give a date for when a draft ordinance will come back before council or when the moratorium might be lifted. It also did not lay out specific zoning districts, size limits or other standards under discussion. Contractors and developers watching the Savannah market should follow council agendas for the ordinance's next appearance.
Why it matters for contractors
The rules Savannah writes now will decide whether large data centers can be built inside city limits, and how hard it will be to get one approved.
A special-use permit process with public hearings means more steps, more time and more uncertainty for any future project. For general contractors, site developers and electrical and mechanical subcontractors, that translates into longer lead times between when a project is announced and when it actually breaks ground. Developers may also need more up-front engineering and studies to answer residents' questions.
On the other hand, a clear ordinance can be better for business than a moratorium with no end date. Once rules are on the books, owners know what they're dealing with, and contractors can plan around a defined process.
The mayor and city manager's emphasis on "right-sized" facilities that serve hospitals, schools and businesses is also a reminder that much of the data center work out there isn't hyperscale. Smaller facilities, upgrades and server room build-outs are steady work for electrical, HVAC and low-voltage contractors, and that work is likely to keep going regardless of what the council decides about the big campuses.