By Will Hofmann
ASHEVILLE – Western North Carolina’s biggest city may soon join a number of towns that have moved to stave off data center development.
City of Asheville staff are expected to “share a framework” for a moratorium on data centers during the Planning Economic Development and Environment Committee’s June 16 meeting, Assistant City Manager Ben Woody said during City Council’s June 4 agenda briefing. If the committee recommends it move forward, the moratorium could come before council as early as its June 23 meeting, Woody said.
“A lot of areas are doing (data center moratoriums), particularly in Western North Carolina,” Woody said during the meeting, calling them “not anything new.” Under North Carolina’s moratoria law, the city must provide reasoning for placing a moratorium, how it will impact development approvals, actions the city will take to study data centers and a date of termination for the moratorium. The moratorium will require a public hearing during the council meeting.
The consideration to prevent development of data centers in Asheville comes as multiple local and regional governments have taken up moratoriums amid increased demand for energy and data intensive applications, which are often fueled by artificial intelligence. Boone, Canton and Woodfin have adopted one-year moratoriums in recent months. Black Mountain officials have also considered passing a moratorium, with Town Council Doug Hay encouraging the town’s planning staff to move forward with drafting a moratorium. Charlotte City Council will vote on a potential moratorium on June 8.
Across the nation, communities fear that large properties could be redeveloped into large data centers. In North Carolina, lawmakers have moved to regulate data centers even as the demand for artificial intelligence grows, taxpayers could bear the brunt of increased energy utility costs, NC Newsline reported June 3.
Asheville’s previous moratoriums on development include those on hotels, which produced the “hotel overlay districts,” a collection of districts where new hotel development is allowed. Buncombe County has previously approved moratoriums on cryptocurrency mining.
During its June 9 meeting, City Council will hold a public hearing on an amendment to its Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery Action Plan. The amendment would reallocate 19.2 million to the Single-Family Home Repair Program, bringing the total allocated to the program to $22.2 million.
Will Hofmann is the Growth and Development Reporter for the Asheville Citizen Times, part of the USA Today Network. Got a tip? Email him at WHofmann@citizentimes.com or message will_hofmann.01 on Signal.