Is a data center ready near a Charlotte nature reserve? Thousands say ‘no.’

Thousands of people are calling on Charlotte leaders to stop a data center from setting up shop southeast of Reedy Creek Nature Preserve.

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More than 3,100 people have signed a petition urging the City Council to reject a rezoning request from the American Tower Corporation, a Boston-based telecommunications real estate company that builds and operates broadcast infrastructure. The company wants to change the land use designations of a 58-acre parcel it already owns in east Charlotte from office and neighborhood use to commercial.

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If the city approves the request, the American Tower Corporation could open a 40,000-square-foot facility on Hood Road by mid-2028.

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“I don’t think there’s anyone who I live with, any of my neighbors, who want this data center to be built,” said east Charlotte resident Jeffrey Shen. He’s a member of the local chapter of the Party for Socialism and Liberation, the organization behind the petition. “Once people know about it, they want to do something about it, and they want to fight back.”

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Shen cited environmental pollution and cost of living concerns as the driving forces behind the movement. Data centers contribute to higher costs for consumers.

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At-large councilwoman Dimple Ajmera said countless residents have already shared quality of life concerns with her. She lives near the site of the proposed data center. It would sit about a mile southeast of the nature preserve, which offers fishing ponds and 10 miles of hiking trails.

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Ajmera said her neighbors worry the center could impact their water bills or introduce loud humming noises to the largely residential area. She wants to implement a moratorium on data centers in residential communities and require facilities within city limits to use recycled water and cooling systems.

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“Data centers may look like little warehouses, but they’re not. They consume enormous amounts of water and electricity,” Ajmera said.

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What is the proposed data center near Reedy Creek?

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During a virtual community meeting in December, attorney Collin Brown, who represents the company, said most of the rezoned property would remain undeveloped. The data processing facility would take up less than 1 acre.

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At 40,000 square feet, it stands to occupy as much space as about 20 average-sized single-family homes. The corporation did not provide an estimate for how many megawatts of electricity it could use, but for comparison a much larger data center proposed in Matthews was estimated to use enough electricity to power 450,000 homes.

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Brown described the east Charlotte facility as a small-scale operation compared to those bigger AI “hyperscalers,” which most people associate with the term “data center.” Their facility would use just 2% of a hyperscaler’s power and occupy about 2% as much space, according to the company.

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The American Tower Corporation already has a communications tower on the property. The proposed facility’s proximity to that tower and to internet users would help deliver services faster, according to the corporation.

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“In addition to supporting local businesses, this project will enhance connectivity for the entire Charlotte community, including schools, healthcare providers, and public safety organizations,” a spokesperson for the corporation said in an email to The Charlotte Observer. “Improved local infrastructure can support faster emergency communications, more reliable broadband for residents and businesses, and greater network resilience during storms or outages.”

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The facility would have “minimal community impacts” and would be “heavily buffered” from existing neighborhoods, Brown said during the meeting. The center would use a closed loop system, which requires minimal water and would not draw from the local water supply, he said.

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And decibel levels would abide by local noise ordinances, with the facility’s HVAC system making about as much sound as a standard office system, according to the company.

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That explanation did not satisfy the project’s critics.

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“This is not the right location for the data center. Period,” Ajmera said. “This is in the middle of a residential area.”

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The rezoning request is tentatively scheduled for a public hearing on April 20, followed by zoning committee review on May 5 and a City Council vote as soon as May 18, according to city spokesperson Jack VanderToll.

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The Party for Socialism and Liberation will present the full list of petition signatures during the public hearing, Shen said.