Charlotte City Council pauses temporarily data center developments

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – There will be no new data centers for at least five months in Charlotte. City council approved a moratorium on data centers Monday night.

A crowd of supporters chanted and cheered when council voted unanimously to temporarily pause data center development.

“There is no red or blue air, there is clean air, there is no red or blue water. There is clean water, and this is about the quality of life for our residents,” Councilwoman Dimple Ajmera said.

Councilwoman Ajmera suggested a 150 day moratorium after American Tower Corporation asked council to rezone 58 acres of land off Hood Road for a data center steps away from residential properties.

“These hyper-scale facilities are concentrated in the crescent, in minority communities, and we want to make sure that they’re not paying the price for it,” Councilwoman Ajmera said.

The moratorium will give city staff time to research how other cities regulate data centers and develop policies to keep residents and resources safe.

“Data centers play a vital role in our economy and how the systems we rely on and bring investment to our region. However, these facilities can be large, consume significant energy, and operate continuously,” Councilwoman Kimberly Owens said.

City staff will be working with stakeholders in the business, non-profit, and climate community to write regulations to protect residents while allowing businesses to operate.

“We are facing new issues that we have not had to face at this level, because we are growing so rapidly, and I think that’s a great thing, because we have the capacity of our community to do exactly that. We’ve got to dig deeper,” Councilwoman Victoria Watlington said.

The moratorium will last for 150 days, ending on November 5th.