Rural Hall residents are praising town leadership for taking a stand against a proposed data center.
The town council unanimously passed a resolution opposing the rezoning of land that developers have earmarked for the project. At a town hall meeting, residents applauded the move.
“The simple aspect of that you, as our elected representatives, came out and said, as a town, as a community, we are in opposition of a data center, that does help," said resident Carole Newsome. "It's one of the steps we need to do to encourage Forsyth County to listen to our voices.”
Forsyth County will ultimately make the final decision in the case. Some attendees encouraged the town council to go further before that vote. They asked Mayor Terry Bennett why officials hadn’t enacted a moratorium on data center development, like several other North Carolina cities.
“The town does not have the legal authority to adopt or enforce such a moratorium," Bennett said. "Rural Hall does not maintain its own independent land use or zoning ordinance.”
Bennett said that’s because the town doesn’t have its own planning department.
The Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Planning Board is scheduled to take up the data center case at its May 14 meeting.