Charlotte staff pauses data center focus group after City Council kept in the dark
Charlotte is suspending a data center focus group following criticism that its work was rushed and lacked transparency.
City staff quietly launched the focus group on Thursday without public knowledge or input from the City Council, The Charlotte Observer first reported. The city was still actively recruiting members the same morning as its first of three meetings.
City Council members aired their frustration in an email thread with city leaders, where they described a breakdown in communication and a process void of public engagement. Staff members solicited suggestions from some council members about who they thought should be on the focus group as late as Wednesday. Other council members were not asked for input.
Deputy City Manager Alyson Craig sent council members a memo Thursday evening saying the community group was “not intended to replace public engagement,” and further engagement was yet to come.
The City Council passed a 150-day moratorium on new data center developments in June, giving city staff until at least November to come up with policy recommendations on how the city can regulate them without running afoul of state law.
The focus group was to include neighborhood leaders, environmental groups, developers and industry workers who could help the city understand complex information before communicating that information with the broader community, according to city officials. But several leaders and organizations that led the public discussions about data centers were not included in the process, prompting outcry from outside and inside city hall.
“Following feedback from community members and input from members of City Council, city staff will be pausing some data center (moratorium) activity to reassess the current process and community engagement approach,” city spokesperson Jack VanderToll said in a news release Friday afternoon. “This is being done to ensure appropriate involvement from community stakeholders and to ensure the public is fully aware of the next steps and will have ample time and opportunity to participate in the process.”
The focus group meetings will be rescheduled.
