Hancock County Plan Commission: 3/24/26
MEETING: Hancock County Plan Commission
Date: 3/24/2026
Recorder: Cathy Cooper
BACKGROUND:
Agenda Item: Data Center Land Use Committee. This agenda item is the outcome of the 3/16 BOC meeting where Save Hancock Co. LLC representatives requested the county implement a 1-year moratorium on data center development. Their request was based on research findings that show data center community impacts.
There were three members of the Plan Commission absent.
SUMMARY OF SIGNIFICANT AGENDA ITEMS AND KEY POINTS:
There was discussion on aspects of developing a Data Center Land Use Committee, including:
· Defining a hyper-scale data center
· Determining goals of the committee
· Identifying qualifications and composition of committee members
· Determining moratorium timeline
· Establishing an overlay process to address approval for emerging technologies projects, such as data centers, when standard zoning regulation may be insufficient.
Action: approved the formation of Data Center Land Use Committee
· Membership to include representatives from government including one member from each of the following: Plan Commission, BZA, County Council & BOC
· Membership to include six county residents who have expertise in specific areas such as utilities, union membership, agriculture, industry
· Objectives of this advisory committee will be to deliberate and then make recommendations to Plan Commission, who will then vote on the recommendations and then refer those recommendations to Board of Commissioners.
· Planning Executive Director Kayla Brooks will seek public letters of interest. The applicants will be reviewed at the next Plan Commission Meeting.
· After formation of the committee, the goal is for it to formulate a recommendation within three months.
Public comments followed. About half of the people in Hancock County supported the development of data centers, while the other half opposed it. Opposition and or slow and considered implementation was presented by representatives of Save Hancock County LLC and private citizens. Supporters of data center development included members of construction unions, civil engineers, Board of Zoning Appeals members, and local citizens.
ADDITIONAL INSIGHTS, NOTES, FOLLOW-UP QUESTIONS:
To submit a letter of interest for membership on this committee, contact Kayla Brooks
Kayla.brooks@hancockin.gov
This is the follow-up article about sanitary sewers from the 3/16 BOC meeting.
