Fayetteville Demands: DATA CENTER MORATORIUM NOW!
Fayetteville City Council
The Party for Socialism and Liberation (PSL) and the Fayetteville, NC community are calling on Fayetteville residents to SAY NO to proposed amendments to the city’s Unified Development Ordinance and demand a DATA CENTER MORATORIUM NOW!
Join us by signing this petition to say you oppose reckless data center development in our city!
For months now, Fayetteville residents have been calling for a moratorium, a 1 year pause on data center development to allow the city time to develop regulations that protect the citizens of Fayetteville and the environment before data centers can be developed here.
Rather than passing a moratorium, the city council has instead attempted to fast track Unified Development Ordinance (UDO) changes that will allow data center development in industrial zones in Fayetteville “by right.” If these changes are passed as written, Fayetteville will be left vulnerable to the development of data centers without any protections in place, leaving our people, our land, and our resources open to the whims of big tech corporations that value nothing more than profit.
On Monday, June 8, over 200 Fayetteville residents rallied outside City Hall and packed the council chambers to oppose the proposed UDO changes and demand a data center moratorium. As a result, the city council scheduled the public hearing that would be required to pass the amendments on August 10th, nearly two months after the originally proposed date. This demonstrates the power of mass community opposition and is a direct result of collective organization.
While we should be encouraged by the results of these efforts, and capitalize on this additional time to continue building public pressure, this delay is not nearly enough. If these UDO amendments pass in August, we will have virtually no avenues to establish additional protections, due to NC “downzoning” laws. We must reiterate our demand for a moratorium. A moratorium is the only outcome that will allow the time for the development of restrictions and regulations that will protect the people of Fayetteville from the numerous environmental and economic harms caused by hyperscale data centers.
Sign the petition today, and connect with us to get updates about actions and next steps!
Want to get more involved?: bit.ly/FayPSLconnect
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WhatsApp Channel: bit.ly/FayPSLNetwork
PSL Fayetteville Linktree: Linktr.ee/pslfayettevillenc
For more information about data centers, check out Fayetteville Freedom for All’s Data Center Toolkit!
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To:
Fayetteville City Council
From:
[Your Name]
Dear Fayetteville City Council,
I am writing to you as a deeply concerned constituent regarding the issue of data centers in Fayetteville.
For months now, Fayetteville residents have been calling for a moratorium, a 1-year pause on data center development to allow the city time to develop regulations that protect the citizens of Fayetteville and the environment before data centers can be developed here.
Rather than passing a moratorium, the city council has rejected the reasonable demands of the people and instead leveraged a 120-day pause on moratoriums to attempt to fast track reckless Unified Development Ordinance changes. If these changes are passed as written, Fayetteville will be left vulnerable to the development of data centers without any serious protections in place, leaving our people, our land, and our resources open to the whims of big tech corporations that value nothing more than profit.
The initial justification for the 120-day pause on moratoriums was a desire to collect more data on the impact of data centers, but said data has still yet to be presented. At the Monday, June 8 meeting, council members said the city will use the two-month delay on the UDO public hearing to study the impact of data centers further. There is already more than enough data showing the devastating impacts of data centers to warrant a moratorium to develop comprehensive protective regulations!
Thus, we demand:
1) That you vote NO on the proposed amendments to the city’s Unified Development Ordinance.
2) That you vote in favor of a minimum 1-year moratorium on data center development in the entirety of the city’s jurisdiction.
3) That during said 1-year moratorium, the city prioritizes the development of comprehensive regulations to protect the people of Fayetteville. Sufficient regulations must mitigate impacts on air, water, and soil; public health; the electric grid; quality of life; utilities and the cost of living. They should also require data center developers and tech corporations to pay their fair share in taxes and utility costs, preventing such costs from being offset to the people of Fayetteville. This process must involve adequate solicitation of, and response to, feedback from the public.
We expect our elected leaders to respond to the legitimate concerns of their constituents and take meaningful steps to ensure that the people of Fayetteville are protected from the gross harms of data centers. We look forward to your swift response and leadership on this urgent matter.