ROCKINGHAM — An online petition is asking local leaders to hold off approving any new data centers for at least a year.
The petition on change.org, created by resident November Coffey on Aug. 3, calls for a 12-month moratorium on new data center development — including the approval of zoning and permits — in Richmond County.
The petition does not include the multi-building Amazon data center campus currently under construction in the Energy Way Industrial Park on Airport Road, south of Hamlet.
“We are proposing a temporary twelve month moratorium regarding any future zoning, permits or development of any new data centers in Richmond County, North Carolina.
“This will be a cautionary pause to (ensure) we can accommodate the utilities and also maintain the way of life we are accustomed to, specifically regarding power and water,” the petition reads. “We have the unique opportunity to see how the first Amazon hyper scale data center impacts us before we irreversibly overextend ourselves. Let’s grow responsibly.”
As of 1:06 p.m. on Aug. 4, the petition had 116 signatures and had been shared 112 times.
The petition comes less than a week after it was discovered that a recent land purchase on County Home Road was tied to a Texas-based data center company.
Records show the 400-plus-acre property — located across the road from the former Ninth Grade Academy — was purchased by Digital Hamlet LP, which appears to be associated with Digital Realty. That company boasts “hundreds of data centers worldwide,” including in Charlotte.
On Thursday, residents and other concerned individuals packed the meeting room of the old courthouse for a public hearing by the N.C. Department of Environmental Quality Division of Air Quality regarding a pair of permits related to the Amazon project.
More than 30, including Coffey, spoke in opposition to the permits.
A protest and press conference were held prior to the public hearing.
There has been encouragement on social media for residents to attend the Aug. 4 meeting of the Richmond County Board of Commissioners.
While the agenda packet appears to show that no one has signed up to speak about data centers, the public comment page does feature the following note: “Anyone that sends an email by 5:00PM on Monday, August 3rd will be added to the Consent Agenda guidelines that are followed.”
The commissioners meeting is scheduled to start at 5:30 p.m. in the Richmond County Judicial Center.
The public comment period has been moved to the beginning of the meeting, following approval of the consent agenda.
