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Rowan County adopts one‑year pause on most new data‑center permits; asks developer for enforceable protections
Summary
After hours of public comment and delivery of a 5,000‑signature petition, the Rowan County Board of Commissioners voted April 20 to adopt a one‑year moratorium on new county permits for data centers, directing staff to draft enforceable standards and to press the Long Ferry site owner for binding protections. A required second reading will make the moratorium effective after two weeks.
Rowan County commissioners voted April 20 to adopt a one‑year moratorium on new permits for data‑center development within the county zoning jurisdiction, directing planning staff and the planning board to study rules that would permit data centers only under strict, enforceable conditions.
The measure, moved after more than three hours of public comment, passed on a voice vote with the dates in the ordinance shifted two weeks later so the board can complete a statutorily required second reading. Assistant County Attorney Eli Harden had urged the board to limit the moratorium to the county’s zoning jurisdiction (excluding municipal zoning and extraterritorial jurisdictions) and described the legal basis as planning statute 160D‑107.
Why it matters: Residents said construction on the Long Ferry Road site already has begun, and speakers pressed the board to halt that work or subject it to binding conditions. Shannon Solomon, who said she delivered 5,000 petition signatures, urged commissioners to "stop the 400‑acre AI data center on Long Ferry Road" until independent studies and enforceable protections are in place. Several neighbors and environmental advocates cited a county utilities 'will serve' letter and…
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