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The Data Center Divide

Alamance County

This restriction takes precedence while in effect. The rating below excludes temporary restrictions.

Neutral Data Center Policies

Alamance County temporarily pauses approvals for new data centers of 10 megawatts or more and their expansions until February 17, 2027, with exceptions for some projects underway.

current law · County measure: Unincorporated areas and any municipalities or extraterritorial jurisdictions that agree by resolution to the ordinance's applicability
Regulates three classes of heavy industrial uses to allow their placement and expansion while protecting public health, safety, welfare, and neighboring properties from impacts such as traffic, noise, odors, vibration, fumes, smoke, light, and visual effects.Alamance County Unified Development Ordinance, Part V Heavy Industrial Development (Section 6.5)

What this means

The UDO lists the industrial uses subject to its special permits and standards, but does not name data centers among them (regulated land uses). The December 2024 amendment concerns an optional septic-system certificate, not data centers (UDO amendment). So these sources show no meaningful data-center-specific change.

People behind it

  • Planning Director who presented the UDO amendment to the Board of Commissioners.

  • Reviewed and unanimously recommended approval of the UDO amendment.

  • Moved approval of the UDO amendment.

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  • Seconded the motion to approve the UDO amendment.

  • Adopted the UDO amendment on December 16, 2024.

  • Prepared the Unified Development Ordinance and administers its development-regulation provisions.

Benefits & exceptionsHide benefits & exceptions9

  • A legally permitted land use or structure may continue as a legal nonconformance, protecting an existing data center from having to comply retroactively with later ordinance changes. The property owner must provide clear, cogent, and convincing evidence that the use was properly permitted.

  • A nonconforming use may continue after damage, and a completely destroyed nonconforming structure may be rebuilt in the same footprint and size, provided the damage was not intentional and any expansion complies with the ordinance.

  • Permits for land uses regulated by the UDO run with the land and may transfer with the property, provided the permits were legally obtained and maintained.

  • The UDO recognizes permit-choice and vested-right protections under North Carolina General Statutes Chapter 160D, allowing development to proceed under the terms of an approved site-specific development plan.

  • Approved permits, site plans, and plats generally remain valid for one year, while approved site plans remain valid when construction has begun and continued. The issuing body may grant one extension of up to six months, with further continuances requiring Planning Board or Board of Commissioners approval.

  • The Planning Administrator may approve an application, approve it with conditions, deny it in writing, or forward it to the appropriate review body; an applicant may revise and resubmit after a denial and may appeal under the UDO.

  • For subdivisions, when an established public water or sewer system is available and extension costs are no greater than installing private systems, the subdivider must provide lots with access to the public system, supporting utility infrastructure for the development.

  • A subdivision final plat may be approved before required improvements are completed if the subdivider guarantees completion within 18 months with a surety bond, letter of credit, or equivalent security equal to 125 percent of the improvement cost.

  • Private roads may serve developments containing up to 14 parcels, subject to minimum road, access, disclosure, maintenance, and engineer-certification requirements, providing an alternative to public-road construction.

Sources

Specific to Alamance County only.

current law · County measure
Imposes an immediate temporary moratorium, adopted on August 17, 2026, to study the infrastructure, utility, environmental, public-safety, and other impacts of large-scale data centers and consider tailored regulations (Ordinance).Alamance County Ordinance Imposing a Temporary Moratorium on Development Approvals for Certain Large-Scale Data Center Development

What this means

If enacted, it would pause county approvals for new data centers of 10 megawatts or more, and expansions of those centers, until February 17, 2027—creating a major development delay (moratorium through February 17, 2027). It would not stop existing centers from operating, and the ordinance lists exceptions for certain projects already underway, so this is a serious but temporary restriction rather than a permanent ban.

Timing

Ends
Feb 17, 2027

The temporary moratorium expires automatically at 11:59 p.m. on 2027-02-17. No extension condition is stated.

People behind it

  • Submitted the agenda item requesting discussion of a possible data-center moratorium.

  • Initiated the proposal for the Board to discuss a possible moratorium.

  • Adopted the ordinance imposing the temporary moratorium.

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  • Responsible for administering the ordinance’s work program, including regulatory review, consultations, and development of regulatory options.

Restrictions & requirementsHide restrictions & requirements4

  • A temporary moratorium prohibits the County from accepting, processing, approving, conditionally approving, issuing, or otherwise granting development approvals for new large-scale data centers or expansions of existing large-scale data centers through 11:59 p.m. on February 17, 2027.

  • The moratorium applies to data centers designed, proposed, or reasonably anticipated to require at least 10 megawatts of aggregate maximum electric demand. Demand is combined across buildings, equipment, cooling systems, backup and supporting facilities, and expansions on the same or contiguous parcels under common ownership, control, or a common development plan.

  • Covered approvals include, as applicable, applicant-initiated text amendments, special-use permits, conditional siting approvals, site-plan approvals, building permits, subdivision approvals, and any other County development approval required by law.

  • A complete development-approval application submitted before the ordinance's effective date will not resume processing until the moratorium expires or terminates, subject to North Carolina General Statute § 160D-108(b).

Benefits & exceptionsHide benefits & exceptions8

  • Existing data centers are exempt from the moratorium, except in the event of an imminent threat to public health or safety, allowing them to continue operating.

  • A project with a valid building permit outstanding is exempt from the moratorium, allowing it to proceed.

  • A project whose complete special-use-permit application was accepted before the moratorium hearing was called is exempt, subject to the statutory requirements.

  • Development covered by an approved site-specific vesting plan under N.C. Gen. Stat. § 160D-108.1 is exempt from the moratorium.

  • A project on which substantial expenditures were made in good-faith reliance on a prior valid development approval is exempt from the moratorium.

  • A preliminary or final subdivision plat accepted for review before the moratorium hearing was called is exempt; an accepted preliminary plat may proceed to final-plat approval if later approved.

  • A complete development-approval application submitted before the ordinance takes effect will be processed under N.C. Gen. Stat. § 160D-108(b) when processing resumes after the moratorium expires or ends.

  • The moratorium automatically expires at 11:59 p.m. on February 17, 2027, allowing new approvals for covered data centers to be considered after that date unless other regulations apply.

Sources

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