When finished, the nine-building campus will back right up to the 95-acre farm.
YORK COUNTY, S.C. — For nearly 60 years, Penland Christmas Tree Farm has been a holiday tradition for families across the region. But the farm’s owners say a proposed data center campus next door could put all of that at risk.
QTS is building the center near Lake Wylie along Campbell Road and Hand Mill Highway. When finished, the nine-building campus will back right up to the 95-acre farm.
The company says the $1 billion investment will generate $8 billion in economic impact for the local area.
Steve Penland, whose family has run the farm since 1966, isn’t convinced the tradeoff is worth it.
“When this is developed and gone into a data center, then all our folks will be looking straight down through here, and that’s what they’ll see,” Penland said. “An eight-story building.”
His concerns go beyond aesthetics. Penland worries about potential environmental impacts from the facility, including strain on power availability and an increase in ambient heat that could dry out his trees — and ultimately his business.
“It will be more air-cooled than water-cooled, and so they have a closed circulation. That’s very positive. But the problem is that all that heat from that will have to go in the atmosphere,” he said. “How much will it dry up the available water? We have heavy dew in the mornings that really benefits the trees tremendously. That won’t probably exist.”
A petition calling for the project to be stopped has gathered nearly 1,000 signatures.
QTS sent WCNC Charlotte a statement in response to this petition.
“QTS prioritizes community and values open dialogue. We understand that projects of this scale raise important questions and concerns. We take community feedback seriously and prioritize listening to the unique needs of the community to determine the best way in which we can contribute,” a spokesperson wrote.
They went on to say their data centers are designed to follow all applicable code in the area, and they encourage residents and local businesses to reach out via their York County landing page or this email: QTSCommunityFeedback@qtsdatacenters.com.
York County Councilman William “Bump” Roddey acknowledged residents’ concerns but said county leaders do not believe they rise to the level of halting the project.
“All concerns are valid concerns, but are they concerns enough for us to halt this project? I don’t think they’ve risen to that level at this point,” Roddey said.
Penland plans to address the council at its next meeting in two weeks. In the meantime, he said he hopes the farm can continue to be a place where families pass down their own traditions.
“Family traditions carry on with their children and their children and their children,” he said.
Contact Julie Kay at juliekay@wcnc.com and follow her on Facebook, X and Instagram.
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