A new proposal to annex land to build a data center in Southeast Raleigh is drawing attention. Within hours of its posting, the list to speak at the public hearing on the issue reached capacity.
The 100,000-square-foot data center is proposed to go in on a more than 13-acre parcel already zoned for industrial mixed use. It’s located a third of a mile from the intersection of Jones Sausage Road and Rock Quarry Road.
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The proposal is in the very early stages of the process; at this point, developers are just requesting the annexation of the land and getting approval for what it’ll be used for. We asked the city for the sign-up sheet and of the 32 expected to speak, 30 are in opposition to the project.
The proposal does not say which company would run it, but we do know the parcel is located across the street from a neighborhood and just down the road from restaurants and gas stations.
"I am worried about the traffic. I understand it could bring jobs, but with jobs, it brings traffic. It brings a lot of congestion and other issues," said Allyne Bibie.
Bibie knows these roads well. Her weekend side hustle is driving for Lyft.
But she wonders why a data center would be proposed so close to homes and other businesses.
"There’s so many more things that we could be using that area for that land for that aren’t going to over-congest our over-congested neighborhoods," she said.
Bibie is not alone in her questions. City representatives say 100 people signed up to speak at the annexation hearing Tuesday afternoon. Only the first 30 to register will have the chance.
Mayor Janet Cowell tells us, “We have allotted 30 minutes for a public hearing on the case for Tuesday, which won’t allow all that have signed up to speak … I haven’t spoken with all members of council, but my sense is that council is not looking favorably on it.”
Raleigh has not voted to place any moratorium on data center builds. A number of counties in our region have, including Orange and Chatham. While Wake County has yet to adopt a moratorium, some municipalities have one in place, including Apex and Wendell.
We reached out to Councilmember Corey Branch who represents Raleigh’s District C, where the land is located. He didn’t get back to us.
Once the public hearing is held Tuesday at 1 p.m. in front of the council, they’ll decide to approve, deny, or request more information before making a decision.