"We are not subject to that because we applied at the time of the old UDO being in place." Attorney Michelle Battle said that to the Rockdale County Board of Commissioners on Sept. 24, 2026. She was speaking for the applicant behind Project Rockforge, a proposed data center campus off NW Farmer Road.
That one sentence matters more to a buyer in northwest Rockdale than anything in the county's new data center rules. Commissioners vote on those rules Oct. 6. They include setbacks, buffers, sound walls and a requirement to build near I-20. They are written for future applicants. The two campuses closest to Farmer Road, Irwin Bridge Road, Rockbridge Road, Lester Road and Sigman Road are each arguing, in different ways, that they fall under the older rules. If you're comparing homes around Conyers, the date a neighboring project filed could matter more than the setback number.
Three tracks moving through the same week
As of Oct. 4, 2026, three things are scheduled for a decision on Rockdale's data center question. They are moving at different speeds and under different rules.
| Track | Where it stands | Which rules it claims |
|---|---|---|
| DC BLOX campus, 1726 and 1830 Farmer Road NW | Approved before the moratorium. County staff say it was rezoned and approved in 2024. Building A and a substation were under construction as of the county's May 2026 presentation. | The approvals it already holds |
| Project Rockforge, about 282 acres off NW Farmer Road, Irwin Bridge Road and Rockbridge Road | Staff and the Planning Commission recommend denial. Commissioners vote Oct. 6 at 10 a.m. | The old UDO, according to the applicant |
| Section 9.5.3, the new data center standards | Deferred Sept. 22. Up for second reading Oct. 6. | Would govern new applications |
The DC BLOX site covers 68.41 acres along Farmer and Lester roads. The county staff report dates the parcels' rezoning from R-1 to O-I to 2023. The Rockdale Citizen, quoting county planning staff, describes the project as rezoned and approved in 2024. Those may refer to different approval steps. DC BLOX's own campus page says site preparation was underway as of September 2024. At the May town hall, Commissioner Tuwanya Smith said the current commissioners did not approve it.
Rockforge is the bigger proposal. MMM Acquisitions LLC wants to rezone 262.99 acres along NW Farmer Road and 2000 Irwin Bridge Road NW. That land is now designated Low Density Residential/Agriculture and zoned Collaborative Residential Subdivision. The application also covers 19.16 acres at 1901 and 1921 Rockbridge Road NW, which are designated Medium Density Residential and zoned R-1, single-family residential. The county's hearing packet describes seven buildings of 423,000 square feet each and a 2033 buildout target.
Why the setback number is the less important number
The proposed standards are real, and they have gotten stricter since summer. The Rockdale Citizen compared drafts in its Sept. 21 report on the revised UDO, and the version history explains why so many people are watching the residential setback.
- May 12 town hall: County planning director Brandon White described a 1,000-foot setback from residential areas, along with schools, medical facilities and places of worship, as one of the standards under discussion.
- Aug. 31 draft: Buildings, accessory structures and substations at least 200 feet from property lines next to residential uses or zoning.
- Sept. 18 draft: That distance rises to 250 feet. It is measured from the edge of a required 100-foot evergreen buffer, and the buffer includes a sound wall up to 8 feet tall designed to cut sound by at least 5 decibels. A separate 1,000-foot setback applies to schools, childcare learning centers and day care facilities.
The Sept. 18 draft also requires a special use permit from the Board of Commissioners. The nearest property line would have to be within 1.5 miles of the I-20 right-of-way. The draft keeps the closed-loop or similarly efficient cooling requirement, noise limits, acoustic testing before and after construction, limits on generator testing, and annual compliance reports.
All of that applies to projects that have to follow the new rules. A section further down decides which projects those are.
The transition clause decides who plays by which rules
The Sept. 18 draft lets some data center projects stay under the county's previous rules. A qualifying project would not need a new rezoning, a special use permit or any other discretionary approval to finish. The property has to be zoned O-I, M-1 or M-2, and it has to meet one of two tests from before the new UDO took effect:
- Land disturbance permits were issued and substantial grading, utility, infrastructure, electrical, substation or building work had started.
- The owner's representatives had held "extensive discussions, substantiated by documentation" with the Rockdale County Development Authority about a data center, and the owner had made "significant expenditures."
The draft does not name any project or company that would qualify. On paper, DC BLOX fits the first test: O-I zoning, site work since 2024, and a building and substation under construction this spring. Whether every part of a later phase is excused depends on the final text. Rockforge has not yet won a rezoning. Its argument rests on when it applied. Opponents at the Sept. 24 hearing questioned whether the project has vested rights under the old ordinance, and the hearing did not settle that question.
The zoning request itself changed partway through. The agenda listed M-2, general industrial. At the hearing, Battle asked for O-I, office-institutional, instead, describing it as less intensive. She said the revised site plan was designed to meet the new UDO's dimensional and buffer standards. That plan shows seven potential buildings, two substations and a stormwater detention area. A resident argued that switching the request raised a notice problem. County officials said the hearing complied with Georgia's zoning procedures law.
Who votes, and when the pause ends
Rockdale has a three-member Board of Commissioners. Commissioner Doreen Williams, Post 2, told the county through County Attorney Qader Baig that she plans to recuse herself from decisions on the Grind Capital rezoning request. The Sept. 24 hearing ended without a vote after Commissioner Smith left and the board lost its quorum. Chair and CEO JaNice Van Ness let the remaining registered speakers finish.
The calendar is tight. The data center moratorium was extended through 11:59 p.m. on Oct. 9. Both Section 9.5.3 and the Rockforge applications are on the Oct. 6 called-meeting agenda. Anyone reading this after Oct. 6 should check the result on the county's meeting agenda page before relying on anything above.
The tax argument runs on a slower clock
Supporters at the hearing kept describing Rockforge as a way to shift more of Rockdale's tax base away from homes. The applicant's website projects more than $500 million in tax revenue over 10 years and $50 million to $60 million a year at full deployment. Those are projections, and full deployment is tied to a 2033 buildout target.
Abatements slow the timeline further. At the May town hall, Development Authority member and former Conyers mayor Vince Evans said abatements usually phase taxes in over 10 years. He said DC BLOX's planned investment could eventually top $4 billion, roughly one-fourth of the county's current overall tax digest. He was comparing a planned investment to the existing digest. That is not a measured contribution. County staff said on Sept. 24 that the Development Authority is not offering Rockforge any abatement or incentives.
For someone setting a budget, none of this changes a tax bill in the next few years. Any tax relief from data centers would come gradually. The construction is happening now.
What the people closest to the sites have raised
Fletcher Sams, executive director of Altamaha Riverkeeper, raised concerns about groundwater, wetlands, blasting and runoff. He said parts of the Rockforge property sit in a significant groundwater recharge area. Water estimates vary by project. DC BLOX's Bill Thompson estimated about 650,000 gallons a year after startup. The Rockforge site estimates less than 5 million gallons a year and gives no electricity load figure. On power, Georgia Power area manager Lisa Toliver said the utility operates under Public Service Commission rules intended to make large-load customers pay their share of infrastructure costs.
Residents Krystel Boie and Sara Kennedy, with the group "Say No To Data Centers in Rockdale Co," organized a Sept. 19 protest. They called for Rockforge to be rejected and for another year-long moratorium. A resident described the pause as time to study impacts. At the May town hall, Kennedy said she had learned about the DC BLOX project only days earlier, despite living near the site for nearly two decades.
What to check on a property in northwest Rockdale
Kennedy's experience shows how a project of this size can go unnoticed. If you're looking at homes near these roads, a few checks before you make an offer are worth the time:
- Find the property on the county's maps and compare it with the DC BLOX parcels at 1726 and 1830 Farmer Road NW and the Rockforge parcels on Farmer, Irwin Bridge and Rockbridge roads.
- Read the current Section 9.5.3 text and transition language on the county's UDO draft page and at RockdaleUDO.com. The county also posts data center materials at rockdaledatacenter.com.
- Look up the Oct. 6 outcome for both the standards and the Rockforge rezoning, and check whether the moratorium was extended past Oct. 9.
- Ask whether vacant land near the property is zoned O-I, M-1 or M-2. Under the transition clause, those are the zoning categories that could keep a project under the older rules.
If you're weighing a home near Farmer Road or comparing Conyers with other parts of Rockdale, Mara Santos can pull a property's zoning neighbors and filing history before you commit, and walk you through how the Oct. 6 decisions affect that specific street. Schedule a Consultation.
This article is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Consult a qualified professional about your situation.
