East Charlotte residents call for 150-day moratorium on data center construction
The groundwork has been laid for a data center in east Charlotte, but residents are hoping the city will pause its construction for at least 150 days.
Two residents joined a press conference by local activists, politicians and an environmental lawyer at a construction site at University City Boulevard Thursday morning. They called on the city council to approve the moratorium at its June 8 meeting.
“Data centers use enormous amounts of water, they cause heat islands around the data centers ... and they also increase our energy bills and our water bills,” said Antoinette Mingo, a neighbor who lives near the center being built. “We want to live a good quality of life like everyone else.”
The sound of construction at the site often drowned out speakers at the news conference, organized by the local nonprofit Action NC. Construction of these centers has boomed in recent years as the use of artificial intelligence has increased. The centers house servers that power technology like cell phone service and AI.
But Mingo, and another resident, Gustavo Toro, said they were concerned about the environmental impact of data centers beyond the use of water. Toro, who said he was there in protest of a data center proposed for Hood Road, said the centers would be particularly harmful for his son, who is autistic.
The Environmental and Energy Study Institute said in a news release that communities have complained about noise pollution from data centers, which generate near-constant noise from cooling systems, diesel generators and fans. The institute also said in another news release data centers are contributing to higher energy bills for residents who live near them.
The institute, located in Washington, D.C., is a nonprofit that researches environmental issues and advocates for policy.
Moratoriums on data centers aren’t new. The city of Durham enacted a 60-day moratorium in May after pushback from residents also citing concerns about environmental impact.
Regulating data centers
It’s important to tackle these concerns and regulate the centers before they’re constructed, because it’s nearly impossible to regulate them after, said Action NC Political Director Robert Dawkins.
Toro said that when he spoke at a public hearing about data centers and his concerns, lobbyists and developers pointed the finger at residents, saying cell phones were the reason the data centers were needed.
“They responded, saying that we are cell phone junkies. That if cell phones are to be turned off in 24 hours, we would go nuts,” Toro said. “As a response to that, I dared them, turn off the cell phones for 24 hours. If anything, they’ll be doing us a favor, bringing back barbecues and block parties.”
Neighbors like Mingo and Toro have the weight of some city council members behind them already, including Dimple Ajmera and JD Mazuera Arias, who spoke at the news conference.
The data center on University City Boulevard is in Mazuera Arias’ district, and Ajmera is an at-large representative. They both said they hope their fellow council members would join them in voting unanimously for the moratorium.
The matter of pausing data centers came up in April, when the council voted on a motion that could have fast-tracked a moratorium then. But the motion failed when Mayor Vi Lyles cast the tie-breaking vote against moving closer to a moratorium. Lyles said she was uncomfortable making a decision without more information.
But the moratorium is on the table again because Lyles put the issue on the May 11 council agenda for discussion. The council decided then to hold a public hearing on May 26 and a formal vote on June 8, which gives members the chance to pause construction.
The moratorium would give the city more time to look at the construction site and its potential impact to the area and ensure policies are in place to guide construction of data centers. Action NC said in a news release that regulations in other cities could be adopted in Charlotte, including a proposed zoning rule like one in Indianapolis to reduce noise.
“I don’t believe anyone envisioned the scale and speed at which data centers would proliferate across the country,” Mazuera Arias said. “Yet today, data centers can be built in seven different zoning districts in Charlotte, and in many cases can be approved by right without the level of public scrutiny.”
Ajmera said the moratorium is not about being anti-technology, artificial intelligence or development, but about protecting the community and the environment. But for Mingo, 150 days isn’t enough.
She doesn’t just want a moratorium, she said, she wants the data center construction to halt completely.
“We’re really asking for a rescission of approval as well,” Mingo said. “This is not the place for a data center.”
