ROCKINGHAM — Residents packed the courtroom Tuesday evening to ask the Richmond County Board of Commissioners to prohibit the development of any more data centers.
The public seating area, which is usually sparse, was overflowing with some attendees sitting in the jury box and others on the floor.
Prior to the public comment period — which was moved to earlier in the meeting — the board amended the agenda to remove the closed session.
Chairman Jeff Smart also explained that the board had decided to extend individual speaking times to four minutes each. The maximum time allotted for the public forum is established as 30 minutes, Smart said. But with so many signed up, that would have only allowed two minutes each.
One of the speakers was November Coffey, who has created an online petition at change.org calling for a 12-month moratorium on data center development — not including the Amazon project currently under construction.
“I feel like … we have a pretty unique opportunity right here to make some good decisions,” Coffey said. “Other places have to go look at other towns and counties and states to see how it’s going there.
“We’ve got the Amazon data center right here in our yard, so let’s see how that goes before we … allow any other development,” Coffey continued. “If that goes well, fire it up, let’s have another one. But let’s get there first.”
The first speaker was Suzzette Baker, who said there was a coalition of county residents who “are deeply concerned about our future and the future of our land.”
Suzzette Baker addresses the Richmond County Board of Commissioners with concerns about data centers.
Baker chided the lack of transparency “due to the (non-disclosure agreements) that have been signed in secret, keeping the public in the dark.” She also mentioned the land on County Home Road recently purchased by a data center company, Digital Realty.
“Nobody is happy about this right now,” she said, referencing the crowd that turned out last week to oppose air quality permits for the Amazon project.
“Each of you county commissioners are elected positions and this is an election year, and we are looking forward to seeing how you’re going to react and how you’re going to be going forward with a lot of this,” Baker added. “We would like to see an immediate emergency moratorium on all data centers and site approvals … and please pause this expansion tonight.
Baker also called on commissioners to “draft common-sense ordinances.”
The second speaker, Russ Fincham, said that the incentive package for “Blue Marlin” — later revealed to be Amazon — “wasn’t done properly.”
Russ Fincham talks about the lack of transparency regarding the Amazon data center project.
Fincham said that someone “at the courthouse” had posted to Facebook that the public hearing for that package had been canceled, “so no one came.”
“We already had the word that we didn’t think it was an Amazon warehouse, it was an Amazon data center, and so we were coming,” Fincham said.
He went on to say the construction of the Amazon project, which broke ground in November of 2025, was both an “illegal” and “immoral” build — “because we weren’t able to comment.”
Fincham continued, saying he hopes the air quality permits will be turned down, “but you know how government works.”
He also called for a one-year moratorium, regarding the County Home Road site and demanded an answer.
Sarina Perry, the fourth speaker, started by asking if the board would answer Fincham’s demand. As is the policy with most government boards, questions asked during public comment do not generally receive direct or immediate answers.
Sarina Perry outlines health concerns for children with special needs due to various effects from data centers.
“I’ll take that as a no, put that on the record,” Perry said.
During her address to the board, Perry focused on the effects of noise and other pollution on special needs children.
“As a special needs mother, I’ve spent years researching and advocating to get basic support and needs met for my child,” Perry said. “God has always moved mountains for my child and I have faith he’ll do it again.”
Perry said the noise from data centers registers around 90 decibels and that anything around 85 decibels “is harmful to human hearing.”
“Some special needs individuals struggle with auditory processing disorders as well as sensory processing disorders, as well as having acute hearing ability detecting low decibels … that most people cannot detect,” Perry said. “Constantly being bombarded with 90 decibels daily will cause dysregulation and nervous system issues.”
Perry went on to describe the effects associated with air, light and water pollution.
“Any small change can trigger a negative physical response,” Perry said. “This affects everyone in and around Richmond County, as well as all of those children that are about to go to L.J. Bell.
“Parents may have to withdraw their children once they realize it’s no longer about thriving academically, but surviving childhood altogether,” Perry continued.
Referencing the phenomena of purple honey produced in the Sandills, Perry said the electromagnetic frequencies emitted by high-voltage electrical grids and substations disrupt honeybee navigation and reduce pollination.
“Ten billion dollars is a lot of money, but at what cost?” Perry asked. “Our water, our air, our land, our homes, our lives and our children’s future are not for sale.”
Perry concluded by quoting Christ with a verse found twice in the Bible: “What does it profit a man, to gain the whole world, and lose his soul?”
With all the comments against data centers, Derek Howell was the only person to speak in favor.
“There are some valid concerns with data centers but …I can tell you as a business owner in this county for 18 years, if I was approached with the same deal, I don’t know that I would vote no,” Howell said.
“The reason being is because economic growth has been very bad here … Textiles has went, everything went,” Howell continued. “So I appreciate you guys looking for a solution to bring economic growth back.”
During Howell’s speech, Smart had to bang his gavel to quiet the crowd and threatened to have interruptors escorted out of the room.
Derek Howell takes up for the commissioners' decision to approve the Amazon project.
Despite his support, Howell did ask commissioners when they found out about Amazon.
“Did ya’ll know exactly what Amazon was before it was when it was brought forward?” he asked. “Because I’m tired of hearing people say, ‘Oh, they knew it. They sold us out’ … Let’s find out.
Howell next asked commissioners if they did know what it was, if they thought it was bad.
“I don’t think any of y’all would vote something in that would be bad for the county,” Howell said. “I don’t think any of y’all got y’all’s pockets padded like everybody’s saying. … We can point the finger at you guys, but at the end of the day, hey, you guys were looking for economic growth … so I appreciate that.”
Turning his attention to the detractors, Howell continued: “There’s a lot of problems and there’s solutions to the problems, but fighting about it ain’t gonna solve nothing.”
“I don’t think we need two more, by no means,” Howell continued. “We got the one that’s here — it’s here, we’re going to have to live with it.”
He concluded, telling those in the audience that if they were in the same position, they probably would have voted for it.
The RO will have the response from commissioners in an upcoming story.
