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Regbase

The Data Center Divide

Lee County

Slightly Pro-Data Center Policies

North Carolina offers eligible data centers conditional tax savings on equipment, but electricity is no longer tax-exempt after the transition, raising costs for affected operators. The state also requires quarterly electricity-tax reporting; task forces study energy and water impacts but impose no direct operating rules.

Rating and summary from North Carolina statewide as there are no scored current or future laws outside temporary restrictions for Lee County.

Specific to Lee County only.

failed · County measure
Allows data centers in Lee County’s Light and Heavy Industrial zones, subject to data-center-specific standards in the county’s development ordinance.Lee County, North Carolina proposed resolution for a 180-day moratorium on utility-scale data centers (2026)

What this means

Lee County adopted supplemental data-center standards that add requirements for development, creating some compliance burden. But data centers remain allowed by right in Light and Heavy Industrial zones, and the proposed moratorium was rejected, so the rules do not amount to a major barrier.

People behind it

  • Initiated the UDO text amendment establishing supplemental data-center standards.

  • Reviewed, revised, and recommended the proposed data-center standards to the governing boards.

  • Adopted the UDO text amendment establishing data-center standards and later considered moratorium proposals.

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  • Proposed a 180-day moratorium on further data-center development.

  • Proposed a 90-day moratorium at the August 17, 2026 meeting, then withdrew the motion after being advised that required notice and a public hearing were necessary.

  • Started and submitted the petition requesting a public hearing, records disclosure, and a temporary data-center development moratorium.

Restrictions & requirementsHide restrictions & requirements5

  • Data centers are permitted only in Light Industrial (LI) and Heavy Industrial (HI) zoning districts under the amended UDO, rather than in residential or agricultural districts.

  • Data-center development in an allowed LI or HI district must comply with supplemental data-center standards added to the UDO.

  • The current UDO imposes a 500-foot buffer between data-center facilities and neighboring homes or residential property.

  • Data centers must comply with applicable noise limits, with violations subject to a $100-per-day fine.

  • A proposed 90- to 180-day moratorium would have temporarily barred new data-center applications, site-plan reviews, administrative approvals, building permits, grading permits, utility approvals, and other approvals materially advancing data-center construction; the proposal required a public hearing and stated findings.

Benefits & exceptionsHide benefits & exceptions7

  • The September 2025 rezoning changed the property from Residential Agricultural (RA) to Light Industrial (LI), allowing development for any use permitted in the LI district rather than limiting the property to the use described during rezoning.

  • Because the original UDO did not specifically address data centers, the use was placed in the zoning district that most closely fit it—LI—where only the district’s general development standards initially applied.

  • The April 2026 UDO amendment made data centers a permitted use by right in both Light Industrial (LI) and Heavy Industrial (HI) districts, avoiding a separate discretionary zoning approval where the property is already in one of those districts.

  • The Lower Moncure Road application, filed after the April 2026 amendment, is allowed by right in the LI district and is processed under the supplemental data-center standards rather than requiring another Board of Commissioners vote.

  • The issued building permit gives the project vested protection: a moratorium cannot stop it, and revised UDO standards adopted during the applicable vested timeframe will not apply.

  • The data-center ordinance uses a $100-per-day penalty for violations, limiting the financial exposure for an operator that does not comply with applicable standards.

  • For the proposed project, Central Electric Membership Corporation issued a will-serve indication for the first building, while additional transmission studies and upgrades would be required for later phases; any required upgrades for a second phase would be paid for by the data center.

Sources

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