Just two weeks after the Fayetteville City Council pumped the brakes on an ordinance regulating data centers, the council again hit pause—this on time on moving forward with a year-long moratorium on data centers being built in the city.
The council voted 6-3 on Monday to approve a 120-day delay on considering a moratorium, a move that brought a vocal rebuke from data center opponents. Several people in the audience of the meeting at City Hall chanted “shame” as the council approved the delay.
Throughout the meeting, data center opponents held signs supporting a moratorium and opposing data centers. One sign was subtle—“A moratorium allows time to reflect”—but others were more blunt, including “Data centers make bad neighbors,” “Don’t trade our water for data centers and AI,” and “Moratorium now!”
Mayor Mitch Colvin admonished vocal data center opponents at least twice when they interrupted the council meeting.
Colvin joined Councilmembers Malik Davis, Stephon Ferguson, Deno Hondros, Brenda McNair, and Mayor Pro Tem Derrick Thompson in voting for the 120-day delay. Thompson made the motion for the measure.
Councilmembers Lynne Greene, Antonio Jones, and Shaun McMillan voted against it. Councilmember D.J. Haire did not attend the meeting.
“I am all for having a conversation—whether you are pro or against, for or not—that should be fact-based, right? It should be able to have some substance to it and not just talking points that apply regardless of where they go,” Colvin said.
‘Get This Moratorium in Place’
McMillan wanted the council to pass a motion directing city staff to prepare the moratorium. That would give the city time to develop “a comprehensive approach” to regulating data center developments in the city, he said.
“I think many of us are ready to go ahead and get this moratorium in place,” he said. “This is not hard for us. As a matter of fact, about five different municipalities have done it in North Carolina in the last 75 days.”
On April 13, the council approved a motion from McMillan directing staff to prepare a presentation for council on a potential moratorium. That motion paused the city’s work on an ordinance regulating data center developments. McMillan’s motion passed 5-4. Colvin, Hondros, McNair, and Thompson voted against it.
On Monday, Assistant City Attorney Victoria Curtis walked the council through a moratorium and what state law allows them to do. Curtis said the moratorium needed two public hearings—one before the city’s Planning Commission and another before the council—before a vote could take place.
With the 120-day pause and without an ordinance regulating data center development, the city is vulnerable to developers submitting plans to build one, city officials said. Yet that’s unlikely, city staff told the council on April 13. Instead, developers are waiting to see what actions the council takes.
Now, city staff will use the next four months to prepare the moratorium, observe how other municipalities in the state are handling data centers, and provide information addressing concerns about the impact of data centers on water, electricity, and noise and air pollution.
Greene said that an eventual data center ordinance should clearly show what the city will accept in the developments, but that the city shouldn’t reject all data centers.
“I am for economic growth,” she said. “I want to see us move forward in the community, but I want to see us move forward in the right way.”
‘Take a Vote and Stand With It’
Local opposition to data centers has intensified since late January when economic development officials hosted an informational session. Since then, data center opponents spoke out at meetings and called on elected officials to block the developments.
The Cumberland County Board of Commissioners will hold a public hearing on May 18 to hear feedback on whether to approve a moratorium on data center construction.
Data centers have also sparked concern across the state. On April 14, the Apex Town Council imposed a 12-month moratorium on data center developments. Kings Mountain, Chatham County, Gates County, Canton, Boone, and Wendell have all enacted moratoriums since the start of the year.
After the 120-day pause, the Fayetteville council will again face whether to implement a moratorium or move forward with a data center ordinance.
“If you don’t support it, you just don’t support it,” Colvin said. “At some point, we are going to have to be big boys and girls and take a vote and stand with it.”