On Thursday night, the Cary Town Council approved an 18-month moratorium on all data center development.

The period will allow staff to study land use and infrastructure impacts, engage with the community and coordinate with regional partners, according to Director of Planning and Community Development Heather Whelehan.

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During the 18-month period, the town will study power demand and grid capacity, water consumption, noise and vibration affects, site design and buffering. Town staff will give periodic progress updates to the council, with a decision regarding an ordinance expected Feb. 2028.

The moratorium includes an exception for "enterprise, small-scale, collocated data processing equipment, such as server rooms at offices or hospitals," drawing less than one megawatt demand, according to the staff report.

Michael Morris, a Cary resident who works in the IT industry, spoke in support of data centers at the meeting. 

"Cary has been about growth and development for the 20 years I've been here, and this sends the wrong message. Now I'm not saying you should go build a data center next to Publix around the corner. No, no one's saying that. We have plenty of land, though," said Morris.

"A moratorium is not a ban, a moratorium is a waiting period," said Rick Trotter, another Cary resident. "We're  talking about companies that have a lot of money. They have the money to do it right. We ought to require that they do it right. In order to do that, we need time to put those rules in place."

Other speakers talked about the environmental concerns associated with data centers, one even suggesting town leaders consider a data center ban.

"The moratorium is not saying no to growth, it's just saying that we use the same discipline that we've used over time with this new evolution of a technology," said Mayor Pro Tem Lori Bush. "I think 18 months to get this right is a small price to pay for protecting what took decades to build."

Whelehan said there are no current pending applications that would be affected by the moratorium, which passed unanimously.

Cary is the most recent municipality in our area to pass a data center moratorium. Durham County recently approved a 9-month pause on data centers. Raleigh, which does not have a moratorium, recently saw a developer withdraw plans for a data center after public opposition.