The Charlotte City Council is prepping to vote on hitting pause on new data center development. 

The council on Monday agreed to hold a public hearing on a data center moratorium on May 26, a prerequisite before it can vote on the moratorium on June 8, according to The Charlotte Observer. 

The debate will center on a possible 150-day moratorium to allow city officials to review the impacts and risks of data centers and to craft regulations around their development. 

At the meeting, some expressed concern that further data center development would drive up electricity costs. Others worried about how such development may be affecting the quality of life in the city because of noise and pollution. 

“This is about our children, this is about our health, and this is about whether families can peacefully live in their homes,” said Dimple Ajmera, an at-large council member, according to a Queen City Nerve report. 

North Carolina currently has more than 90 data centers, according to Data Center Map. The Charlotte metro area has over 30 data centers, with more proposed. 

AREP has plans for a 1.5M SF campus in University City, and Digital Realty is plotting a potentially 3M SF one on Moores Chapel Road. American Tower Corp. is proposing to build a 40K SF facility near Reedy Creek Nature Preserve.

Data centers are currently permitted by right in eight zoning districts in Charlotte without city approval. These districts include residential areas, the Observer reported. 

Any potential moratorium will not affect already permitted plans.

The council’s moves come as local backlash against data centers rises in communities across the Carolinas. Durham passed a 60-day moratorium last week, Apex passed a one-year moratorium last month, and Chatham County passed a one-year moratorium in February. The county was sued in April by a developer after the moratorium was imposed.

Rock Hill, South Carolina, 25 miles south of downtown Charlotte, might soon see a dual-hotel project.

On Jan. 6, the Rock Hill Planning Commission recommended approval of a rezoning request from an entity tied to Fort Mill-based Primo Investments, the Charlotte Business Journal reported.

The hotel owner and developer, led by Hitesh Patel, aims to rezone 13.2 acres at 1505 and 1515 Riverchase Blvd., off Exit 82C of Interstate 77, for a project that will construct two hotels on the site.

The Rock Hill City Council, which has final authority on zoning, is expected to make a decision on Jan. 26. 

If the project comes to fruition, the first phase will be an 85,700 SF, 121-room hotel. The second phase will be a 59,300 SF hotel with 116 rooms. The first hotel is expected to be a Marriott-branded Residence Inn, and the second might be a Marriott-branded StudioRes.

Patel’s team is reportedly seeking a master plan-commercial zoning designation. This is designed to allow for a mixture of retail and office uses in a certain parcel or area based on a master plan approved by Rock Hill. The designation allows for some flexibility as the plans progress. 

Patel’s Primo Investments has an active hotel portfolio throughout the Charlotte market, especially in York County, with five hotels in Rock Hill alone. It also boasts two hotels in Fort Mill, two in Charlotte and one in Concord.

The New York City Council has approved the Science Park and Research Campus (SPARC) Kips Bay and Innovation East projects. The vote completed the public review process for the two projects in Manhattan’s Kips Bay neighborhood, which the New York City Economic Development Corporation called key initiatives in advancing the goal of creating 10 million square feet of life sciences space locally.

“The state-of-the-art projects at SPARC Kips Bay and Innovation East will not only drive significant economic impact but also create a strong talent pipeline through the city’s academic institutions and organizations,” said NYCEDC president & CEO Andrew Kimball.

NYCEDC said SPARC Kips Bay will transform an entire city block with more than two million square feet of academic, public health and life sciences space. The Innovation East development, located at 455 First Ave., will replace the former and obsolete Public Health Lab with a new state-of-the-art life science hub.

Besides approving the project which will permit Hood Ventures to build a 210-unit multifamily community, the Concord City Council approved just over $170,000 in grants from the towns economic development office.

The $48.3 million project will also have 10,379 square feet of commercial space.

The project, that will have 148 two-bedroom units and 62 one-bedroom units, is going in between Bonnie Street Southeast and Woodsdale Place Southeast, along Cabarrus Avenue East.

The Charlotte Business Journal reports Concord city documents state that the area eyed by Hood Ventures is identified by the plan as one of nine opportunities for the public sector to intervene to help attract private investment.

Public input will be permitted Tuesday at the second of two City Council subcommittee hearings on the Adams administration’s “City of Yes” proposal, reported the New York Business Journal. The full City Council is expected to vote on the proposal, which would update New York City’s zoning regulations, by the end of the year.

The full council is the last rung for the proposal to clear before heading to the mayor’s desk after receiving the City Planning Commission’s support in September, the Business Journal reported. During the hearings of the Subcommittee on Zoning and Franchises, which were scheduled for Monday and Tuesday of this week, the council could potentially attempt to change the legislation based on public feedback and input from council members.

Organizations such as the Regional Plan Association have endorsed the proposal. The RPA estimates the initiative would have an economic impact between $41 billion and $83 billion.