ROCKINGHAM — City leaders have announced time limits for next week’s public hearing.
The city of Rockingham is holding the hearing at its Sept. 8 meeting regarding a conditional rezoning request for a proposed data center.
Due to “significant citizen interest,” speakers will be limited to three minutes each “to allow as many speakers as possible,” according to a release sent by the city on Sept. 3.
The public hearing is currently scheduled to last an hour. However, Mayor John Hutchinson will have the discretion to extend the allotted time.
City Manager Monty Crump said that state law allows a local government to “set maximum time limits for a public hearing, to fix individual speaker times …, allows allocating equal blocks of time for opposing viewpoints … and finally can require large groups to designate a spokesperson to present their collective views within the allotted time frame.”
The property in question, located on Old Cheraw Higway between Farmstead Court and the U.S. 74 bypass, was purchased earlier this summer by Terra Nexus Land Fund 1, LLC.
The two larger tracts were rezoned to high density residential in 2025 by the Rockingham City Council, due to an initial proposal for a housing development.
However, Assistant City Manager John Massey explained last month that developers reached out to the city this spring saying that the partnering homebuilders indicated they were “hesitant” due to the proximity to the wastewater treatment plant — so Terra Nexus “pivoted” to other development interests, including a data center.
The data center proposal includes four single-story buildings of nearly 156,000 square feet with equipment yards. Those yards will feature 48 diesel generators for each building that will “operate periodically” for maintenance and testing, and during power outages.
The plan also features a 16-acre site for an electric substation, with power coming directly from the nearby transmission lines.
The overall site will have a 300-foot vegetative buffer along the northeastern boundary and a 100-foot buffer along the road.
The proposed data center project would be a $1.2 billion investment — with no incentives being offered by the city, unlike the deal the county approved for Amazon.
Rockingham’s current tax base of $824 million, according to Massey, generates $4.4 million each year. This project (at the current tax rate of $0.55 per $100 of valuation), he said, would generate $6.6 million alone, more than doubling the city’s current tax base.
“When you look at all the factors in it, it’s a positive thing for the city,” Massey said.
City Hall was packed during the August meeting, with many in the audience presumably there to express their concerns during the “Business by Visitors” portion of the agenda. But when it came time, the mayor said they would not be taking comments related to the data center.
NOTE: This story has been updated to correct a date. 9:52 p.m. 9-3-25.
