Vetted by NeuralPress's Multi-Agent Verifier for strict factual validity and event relevance. Our compliance engine cross-checks and filters search results to ensure zero false correlations or misleading content.
Primary Sources
Opinion: Why Fayetteville passed on a data center moratorium
The city’s lawyer told the City Council at its meeting April 27 that a moratorium, i.e., a legal pause, would be the only way to stop a data center from locating in Fayetteville. “The only way to pause data center development is through a moratorium,” Lachelle Pulliam said. I thought, “There it is.” The attorney, who has no dog in this fight, had nonetheless thrown council members the equivalent of an alley-oop pass in basketball. The council is right there under the goal — just dunk it in, and pass a moratorium. Protesters in the council chamber carrying signs that said things like “People over profits” and “Data Centers Make Bad Neighbors” might have expected a slam dunk, too. The stakes are high because of the massive pressure large data centers can put on utilities and water and their contribution to noise pollution, while delivering a relatively low number of long-term jobs. Instead, the council voted to gather research for four more months, which may or may not include some council members personally visiting data center sites and could include talking to the county about what it’s doing. And what the Cumberland County commissioners have done is schedule a public hearing this month on a moratorium, the major step before it can vote on one. The city, on its current pace, would not be at that kind of step until late summer. A data center that meets current zoning standards could potentially be approved — to heck with the community and what it wants. At any rate, the staff and council would have to make the kind of ad hoc decisions on data centers that its planning and zoning staff had warned could be a result of the council passing no code changes. Voting for the pause were Mayor Mitch Colvin, Mayor Pro Tem Derrick Thompson and Council members Malik Davis, Stephon Ferguson, Deno Hondros and Brenda McNair. Council Members Lynne Greene, Antonio Jones and Shaun McMillan voted against the pause. Council Member DJ Haire was not present at Monday’s meeting. Fayetteville council members know that the city is exposed because staff told them I get that council members want more discussion on data centers. Even though they have been discussing them in a series of meetings, both regular and dinner meetings, for a couple of months, and the staff and the Planning Commission were discussing data centers well before then. That said, council members should want to know more; that is due diligence and is proper. But moratoria are legally allowed by the state...
I Helped Block a Data Center and Learned How Much Power Locals Have ...
Jesse Brooks, who helped push for a data center moratorium in his town. Jesse Brooks 2026-05-03T09:58:01.283Z When residents of an Atlanta suburb heard a data center may be coming to town, they pushed back. Fayetteville, Georgia, no longer allows new data center construction following local pushback. Here's how Jesse Brooks and his neighbors stopped a data center development. This is an as-told-to essay based on a conversation with Jesse Brooks, a 35-year-old videographer who lives in Fayetteville, Georgia, an Atlanta suburb. It has been edited for length and clarity. The Atlanta area is one of several hot spots for data center development, and the town is home to a hyperscale data center under construction by Blackstone portfolio company QTS since 2022. Earlier this year, Crow Holdings put forward a plan to build another large data center in Fayetteville. After residents raised concerns at a planning and zoning meeting, the data center application was denied. The city also passed a moratorium on new data center applications, and data centers are no longer approved land uses in the city. I first heard about the new proposed data center on one of my town's four general-purpose Facebook groups, where people usually post about roadwork or lost dogs.At the beginning of the year, someone in the group flagged a letter from the city inviting residents to a late January planning and zoning meeting for a proposed project near their home.I looked at the agenda and realized there was also a project proposed by CHI/Acquisitions LP, a subsidiary of developer Crow Holdings. Since Crow Holdings was working on other data centers, like one in Texas, and the project was labeled "DC," we realized this was likely another one.We got our first hyperscale data center in 2022, at the beginning of the boom, but it wasn't until the impact of construction, such as an influx of workers causing traffic, that more residents took notice.Without any central organization, other Facebook group members and I spent January trying to rally neighbors to show up to the meeting. I even posted on Reddit.Before the meeting, I also reached out to our local newspapers to make sure they showed up.I had no clue who would actually show up to our town hall. When I arrived, there were about 100 of us. Nearly every chair in the room was filled. The Fayetteville data center was proposed for the wooded area behind this sign. Jesse Brooks These meetings are typically an hour long, with the commission...
Fayetteville council takes a pass on a data center moratorium | Opinion ...
2026-04-30, 10:14, The Fayetteville Observer Headlines WN.com - Related Articles The city's lawyer told the City Council at its meeting April 27 that a moratorium, i.e., a legal pause, would be the only way to stop a data center from locating in Fayetteville.
Charlotte and Fayetteville delay decisions on data center moratoria ...
Charlotte and Fayetteville delay action on data center moratoriums. In Fayetteville, the City Council voted 6-3 to delay consideration of a moratorium for 120 days.
