A developer has submitted a rezoning petition for a 58-acre plot of land on Hood Road to allow up to 40,000 square feet of data storage.
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Charlotte City Council members are weighing policy changes on data centers after a proposed facility in East Charlotte sparked debate and raised concerns from nearby residents about water and energy usage.
A developer has submitted a rezoning petition for a 58-acre plot of land on Hood Road to allow up to 40,000 square feet of data storage. The site sits just south of Plaza Road Extension and adjacent to established single-family neighborhoods.
However, city council could step in and make changes that would affect all future proposals.
“One data center… it can consume millions of gallons of water. It’s like having a small city,” Councilmember Dimple Ajmera said.
Ajmera lives in a nearby neighborhood that could be impacted. That’s why Ajmera supports potential restrictions that would require data centers within city limits to use cooling systems and recycled water.
“We need to be proactive as a city rather than being reactive, because once they’re approved, there is very little power that we will have,” Ajmera said.
Councilmember JD Mazuera Arias represents the area and shares similar concerns.
“I’ll be blunt and honest: to me, east Charlotte isn’t open to me for data centers, I don’t want it to,” Mazuera Arias told WCNC Charlotte in February. “We’re just learning about the environmental implications, health, water cost implications.”
Ajmera raised some of these concerns with Charlotte Water leaders during a committee meeting last week.
“Once a project, no matter what the project is, gets past zoning. It’s basically up to staff to try to implement, you know, in support, because that particular entity has already received their approval,” Charlotte Water Director Angela Charles said at Thursday’s meeting.
City leaders say that means the time to have the conversation is now.
“At the end of the day, the consumer shouldn’t be footing the bill for this massive usage,” Ajmera said.
There is currently no set date for the rezoning petition to go before City Council, meaning there is still time for potential policy changes to be finalized.
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