Liberty County commissioners approved a 120-day moratorium on data centers at their meeting Thursday night.

While no data centers currently are underway at Liberty County, county attorney Kelly Davis said, the moratorium halts all permits and applications that could be coming from data centers for the next 120 days.

“We have no pending applications,” Davis said. “This would not affect any ongoing reviews of developments.”

Local governments across southeast Georgia have adopted moratoriums or have suspended applications from data centers in order to give the governing bodies time to study data centers and their impacts, Davis said.

“It gives these local jurisdictions time to fashion ordinances that are appropriate for such developments,” he added. “Liberty County is in a similar position.”

During the moratorium, county officials will review the current ordinances and decide how those could be amended to address data center impacts.

During the moratorium, a review of the comprehensive plan, zoning ordinances and development ordinances will be done to ensure the regulations account for any issues or impacts raised by data centers, Davis noted.

“You’re not taking a position for or against data centers,” he said. “You just want to ensure your ordinances are appropriately drafted to adequately any circumstances that might be presented by data centers, which are fairly unique.”

Davis said the moratorium can be extended, if the commissioners wish, though if they want to do so, they should hold a public hearing, adding the resolution enacting the pause has that in mind.

“Under Georgia law, it’s difficult to deny applications for an extended period,” he said. “I think that within 120 days we can review the matter and have a recommendation for the board.”

Davis also told commissioners that they “were not alone” in trying to figure out how to handle data centers. Moratoriums similar to the one Liberty County commissioners approved have been enacted in Chatham and Glynn counties.

“Many other jurisdictions are experiencing similar concerns trying to address them the best they can,” he said.

Davis said there are now more resources, including those from other communities, Georgia Tech and the Association of County Commissioners of Georgia, to understand what data centers bring to a community.