ROCKINGHAM — The city council is expected to set a public hearing Tuesday for a rezoning request related to a proposed data center.
According to the agenda packet for the Aug. 11 meeting, Terra Nexus Land Fund I, LLC has submitted an application to rezone just more than 165 acres on Old Cheraw Highway — from high density residential to conditional light industrial — to develop a data center.
Two sections of the property — the Clontz property and neigboring land formerly owned by state Rep. Ben Moss — were initially zoned for high density residential last year, following a voluntary annexation of both properties in May and October, respectively.
County GIS records show those two properties, as well as two others, were purchased by Terra Nexus in June.
“The applicant’s original plan was to develop a residential subdivision on the subject property,” reads the staff report included in the packet. “However, homebuilders expressed low interest in the site because of the proximity to the City’s wastewater treatment facility, which is immediately adjacent to the subject property.”
The site plan calls for four one-story buildings, each nearly 156,000 square feet, as well as a 16-acre substation. It also includes a 300-foot-wide buffer of existing vegetation — to be supplemented with additional vegetation if needed — between the site and nearby Farmstead Court.
The first building is expected to take nine months to a year to complete, with the next stage of the build out to begin afterwards. At full build out, the data center is expected to have 30 full-time employees.
The data center is estimated to be a $1.2 billion investment in the city. The property currently has a tax value of $814,331,324. The city is not offering any financial incentives, according to the report.
The report responds to several of the main concerns recently expressed by Richmond County residents, especially related to noise and air pollution and water usage.
The city, according to the report, requested an operational noise study for the project. That study reportedly concluded that the facility will not exceed 48.4 weighted decibels, which is below the limit of 55 dbA.
Ambient noise levels in the city’s residential neighborhoods, according to the report, average 50-55 dbA.
The data center was expected to use 75,000 gallons of water — the equivalent of 375 single-family homes at an average of 6,000 gallons per home — and 1,000 gallons of sewage per day, according to the report.
However, the report notes that the developer indicated during a Planning Board meeting that the cooling system design has been changed to a closed loop system “that uses significantly less water” than what was originally proposed.
“These closed loop system continuously recycles the same water,” the report reads. “The system will be flushed and cleaned occasionally with fresh water. Therefore, average daily water usage for the facility will generally be limited to the domestic water use of 30 occupants.”
The report notes that if the property had been developed for a subdivision at two to three units per acre, then it would include 330-495 units.
“The City has the capacity to provide both water and sewer service for the project,” the report reads, adding that the city will evaluate if any improvements are needed in the water distribution system to meet the demand.
The report states that the property “is attractive for a data center project because of the two Duke Energy transmission lines crossing the site which is critical infrastructure needed to supply the power for the data center.”
According to the report, “no on-site power or bridge power will be utilized on the site (only existing overhead power lines) so no air quality permit will be required.” The report adds that backup power generators will be a part of the development “in case of loss of power from overhead utility lines … which rarely occurs.”
The N.C. Department of Environmental Quality Division of Air Quality recently hosted a public hearing regarding a pair of permits related to the Amazon data center project south of Hamlet.
The Rockingham Planning Board unanimously reccomended the rezoning — per the site plan and condidtions of approval — at its Aug. 4 meeting, according to the report.
(DISCLOSURE: RO co-publisher Kenny Melvin is chairman of the Rockingham Planning Board. He only casts votes to break ties.)
The public hearing will likely be scheduled for the September meeting, based on prior actions by the Rockingham City Council.
There will also be a public comment period at the conclusion of the business items during the Aug. 11 meeting.
Last week, several residents attended the Richmond County Board of Commissioners meeting to speak out against data centers. One resident has even started an online petition calling for a 12-month moratorium on data center development.
The only other action items on this month’s agenda are:
The meeting is scheduled to start at 6:30 p.m. at Rockingham City Hall.
NOTE: See all documentation from the agenda packet related to the proposed data center, including conditions of approval, below.
NOTE: This story has been updated to correct a typo regarding the economic investment. 6:47 p.m. 8-10-26.
