TO: Mayor and Members of City Council
THRU:
FROM: Council Member Shaun McMillan
DATE: November 2, 2026
RE:Title
City Council Agenda Item Request - Data Center Moratorium: Public Hearing and Work Plan - Council Member McMillan
Title
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COUNCIL DISTRICT(S):
Council District(s)
All
b
Relationship To Strategic Plan:
Goal 3, City Investment in Today and Tomorrow: protects water, sewer, stormwater, and electric infrastructure.
Goal 4, Desirable Place to Live, Work, and Recreate: protects neighborhoods from noise, flooding, and air impacts.
Goal 5, Financially Sound City: tests the fiscal return and guards ratepayers from cost shifts.
Goal 6, Collaborative Citizen and Business Engagement: Data Center Task Force and district listening sessions.
Executive Summary:
Council consensus to direct staff to:
1. Schedule a public hearing on a temporary data center moratorium under N.C.G.S. 160D-107. Council sets the length at adoption. It ends once permanent rules are adopted.
2. Prepare the work schedule the statute requires, starting from the attached work plan.
The work plan answers the concerns residents have raised: PWC water, sewer, and electric capacity; household power bills; Cape Fear River supply and PFAS; flooding; Fort Bragg's needs; matching rules with Cumberland County; annexation and utility extensions near Eastover and Hope Mills; incentives and nondisclosure agreements; community benefits; projects already in the pipeline; enforcement; and a seat at the table for residents in every district.
Deliverables, each with time to draft and time to approve: (1) technical study, (2) Data Center Task Force report, (3) large water user ordinance, (4) community benefits ordinance, (5) incentives and disclosure policy, (6) non-annexation agreements and utility extension policy, (7) PWC large-user rate policy, (8) enforcement and monitoring plan, (9) matching standards with Cumberland County, and (10) final UDO amendments, adopted in the last period.
Background:
Issues/Analysis:
Work plan highlights, by period:
Period 1, Set up: Data Center Task Force seated, with a member from each council district. Pending projects listed.
Period 2, Study and listen: Technical study drafted. Listening sessions held in every district.
Period 3, Report and coordinate: Council receives the technical study. Meetings with Eastover, Hope Mills, and Cumberland County on non-annexation agreements. Large water user ordinance and incentives and disclosure policy drafted.
Period 4, Draft: Large water user ordinance and incentives and disclosure policy approved. Community benefits ordinance drafted. Data Center Task Force reports to Council. Public comment on all drafts.
Period 5, Adopt: Community benefits ordinance, non-annexation agreements, and final UDO amendments approved.
The moratorium ends when the rules are adopted.
Budget Impact:
Options:
Recommended Action::Recommended Action
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Attachments:
City Council Agenda Item Request
A Data Center Moratorium at a Glance