A data center developer has sent a letter to county leaders stating that it has “reluctantly” made a decision to file a plan for development of a site along U.S. Hwy. 158.
The letter, dated Sept. 9, was sent via email to the Vance County Board of Commissioners and the Vance County Planning Board in care of County Manager Renee Perry, and was signed by Tom Natelli, with Natelli Holdings.
“Given the extensive efforts already underway and our ongoing reliance on the current County ordinances governing land use and development of this site, we have been closely following the discussions around the possible imposition of a moratorium and adoption of new regulations under the existing or revised UDO to more fully regulate Data Centers. The uncertainty this causes is very problematic for us at this stage of our efforts. We therefore reluctantly made the decision today to file a plan for development of the site.”
The county is in the process of updating its UDO – Unified Development Ordinance – and Natelli cited several proposed items within that document that “would need some refinement to be workable in the circumstance.”
Included along with the letter was a “red-lined” copy of the UDO with preferred edits to wording regarding everything from setbacks and buffers to cooling systems and decommissioning protocols.
Natelli said they’ve conducted a wide range of planning, engineering and design work “to confirm that a data center campus can be responsibly developed on this site,” along with environmental impact studies and talks with Duke Energy to make sure adequate energy is available “without causing adverse consequences” to the local community and ratepayers.
He said community engagement meetings would be planned at an appropriate time; there are still details that “must all come together for the project to be viable,” Natelli stated.
Acknowledging that he did not believe they’d be able to satisfy everyone, “I do think we can try to reasonably address matters of concern and explain how we intend to responsibly approach development of this campus.”
