Facing opposition, developer pulls planned $30B data center in Mooresville, NC

Yahoo

a day ago

A Colorado developer withdrew its request for a $30 billion data center on east Mooresville land owned by Teresa Earnhardt, widow of the late NASCAR driver Dale Earnhardt, Mayor Chris Carney said Wednesday.
'This means the item will be removed from the Sept. 15 agenda and will not move forward,' Carney said on social media. 'There is no request to postpone — this is a full withdrawal. At this time, there is no active request for a data center in Mooresville.'
In an exclusive interview with The Charlotte Observer on Friday, Carney said he and the six town commissioners couldn't support the Mooresville Technology Park rezoning without knowing which tech giant would buy, own and operate the center on Earnhardt's 400 acres, and their tax-incentive and other demands.
Carney votes in case of a 3-3 deadlock by the commissioners.
Carney said he informed Denver-based developer Tract of the board's likely rejection of the request. Tract could choose to request that its request be pulled from consideration, he said.
'We are both disappointed and surprised to learn of the Board's position in this manner,' Tract said Friday in an emailed statement to the Observer through a spokesperson. 'In light of this development, we are carefully evaluating our next steps.'
At least 200 neighbors opposed the rezoning at public meetings, citing noise, light pollution, truck traffic and other concerns.
'Yes, this is a lesson for every taxpayer to get involved when the issue is tremendously bigger than you are,' opponent Lynne Taylor told the Observer on Wednesday after Tract withdrew its plans.
'Mooresville has gained national attention for the pushback and rightly so,' Taylor said. 'A huge congratulations to the grassroots group which spearheaded the direction of opposition.'
Neighbors established a No Data Center Mooresville website and a No to Rezoning! No to Mooresville NC Tech Park Facebook group.
Kerry Earnhardt, Dale Earnhardt's oldest son, recently criticized the project on the 'No to Rezoning!' site.
'Frankly, I'm ashamed our family name is involved in the request to rezone a community that is thriving as a Rural Residential/Agriculture zone to be changed to Industrial,' Earnhardt said.
Carney said he and the Town Board appreciated 'the public's input and the collaborative discussions that helped determine whether this project was the right fit for our community. As always, we want to keep residents informed, and we felt it was important to share this update as soon as possible.'
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