Mayor Van Johnson pushes for moratorium on Savannah data center developments

SAVANNAH, Ga. (WTOC) - Savannah Mayor Van Johnson said that companies have reached out to the city about building a data center, prompting the Savannah City Council to consider a moratorium on such developments.

A public hearing and an ordinance adoption are on the schedule for this Thursday. If the ordinance passes, it will block any new large-scale data center developments within Savannah for 155 days.

According to Mayor Johnson, the temporary ban will give city officials time to draft a thoughtful policy regarding data centers and evaluate the potential impact of having one in the city.

“Really, we see it as an opportunity,” Mayor Johnson said. “We’re seeing that there’s 5,000 data centers in Georgia and another 45-hundred on tap. We recognize that there are maybe some vulnerabilities where people can drop a large scale data center by right. We want to make sure our policy is thoughtful and that it catches up with the technology, and I think for us, the citizens of Savannah will want us to do the thoughtful thing.”

While Mayor Johnson has repeatedly stated that large-scale data centers do not belong in Savannah, he acknowledges that the city will continue to face pressure from technology companies looking to expand.