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Planning Board Special Meeting

Chatham County · Planning Board
Tuesday, April 14, 2026 at 6:30 pm · Emergency Operations Center, 112 Innovation Way Pittsboro, North Carolina 27312

Special or emergency meeting Data centers and large loadsEnvironment and sustainabilityWater and sewer

Agenda document Minutes Meeting page Watch Meeting recap

What's on this agenda

Chatham County's Planning Board held its first working session on data centers on 14 April, two months into the twelve-month moratorium the commissioners had adopted in February. Staff presented the research behind the question and the board set out what it wanted to settle in the time it had.

Summarized from the published agenda. Read the agenda itself before acting on it.

Meeting recap

What happened, drawn from the records published after the meeting. Minutes

The chair framed the task around the deadline: ten months left, ordinances to recommend, and commissioners due to adopt something the following February. She set three tests for any rules the board writes. Data centers should not overuse water. They should not shift energy costs onto households, particularly lower and middle income ones. And they should not create noise pollution.

She also put the county's finances on the table, saying Chatham draws little revenue from commercial and industrial sources and that data centers could fund county services if it can be done responsibly. Members of the Climate Change Advisory Committee were invited and their views sought. Staff then presented several months of research drawn from other county departments and stakeholders, and the board discussed a timeline and what to do next. The agenda was approved 10-0, the only recorded vote.

How the votes went

The agenda was approved 10-0. No other vote was taken.

From the published minutes.

Speaking at this meeting

Chatham County's own rules for public comment — check them before you rely on anything here.

Agenda items (5)

Discussion item · 3Procedural · 1Presentation · 1
  1. III Approval of Agenda
    Procedural
    Approved 10-0
  2. IV.1 Introduction to the special meeting and overview of objectives
    Discussion item Data centers and large loads
    The chair sets out what the board has to settle before the moratorium ends: water use, energy costs on households, and noise.
  3. IV.2 Staff presentation: data centers, associated uses and potential impacts
    Presentation Data centers and large loadsEnvironment and sustainabilityWater and sewer
    Several months of staff research on data centers, drawn from other county departments and community stakeholders.
  4. IV.3 Discussion on current concerns and ongoing research
    Discussion item Data centers and large loads
  5. IV.4 Defining next steps, proposed timeline and meeting schedule
    Discussion item Data centers and large loads

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