April 5, 2026
Blaise McCall, right, speaks to Brevard City Council during a May 4 public hearing regarding data centers at Brevard City Hall.
Screenshot from City of Brevard livestream
Jonathan Rich
BrevardBeagle.com
Editor’s note: This story aims to depict what happens when an internet rumor and a public hearing gently bump into one another. My story is long, but it is true. It in no way intends to diminish the importance of individuals speaking their truth to power. This could have been shorter, but it is what happened.
Five local residents spoke out to decry a perceived invasion of a data center in our area at Monday night’s Brevard City Council meeting, but officials explained the item on the agenda was to simply label this sometimes controversial practice as something to be recognized in regards to future zoning discussions.
According to a Brevard Planning Department staff report, data centers are a relatively new type of land use comprised of physical facilities or buildings that house critical computing and networking infrastructure including servers, storage systems, and related equipment to store, process, and manage data and applications. These structures are typically large in square footage and involve significant demands on electrical and water infrastructure.
Monday night’s impending data center discussion had apparently created an advance online stir on social media regarding whispers and assumptions of possibly finding a location for a data center on the former Ecusta mill property within the city limits. That is not at all what what on the City Council’s agenda.
The Background
Monday night, City of Brevard Assistant Planning Director Aaron Bland explained that at the Feb.16 City Council meeting his department was asked to research the adequacy of the city’s zoning regulations regarding data centers and City Attorney Mack McKeller was asked to look into the legal steps necessary to impose a moratorium on data center development.
After considering the current text of the city’s Unified Development Ordinance (UDO), Bland recommended updates to make Brevard’s code more specifically govern the presence of data centers and similar high-intensity land uses.
On March 16, City Council adopted Ordinance No. 2026-11 enacting a “temporary moratorium on the acceptance, processing, and approval of any application for data centers, crypto-mining facilities, server farms, or other high-impact digital infrastructure facilities” that would expire on July 2, 2026.
Under the current UDO language, data centers would be considered a “heavy manufacturing” facility permitted only in general industrial zoning and require a special use permit granted by the Board of Adjustment in order to operate.
Bland and his colleagues said they believed the UDO provides written safeguards against the negative aspects of data centers via the Board of Adjustment’s ability to impose conditions on special use permits.
However, Bland pointed out that because data centers are not specifically mentioned in the UDO and they are not ‘manufacturing’ in the traditional sense, this created some confusion and potential shortfalls in ensuring community compatibility regarding these facilities.
For these reasons, Bland explained, the Brevard Planning Department felt the current language regarding data centers was inadequate and needed to be addressed. That is what the public hearing Monday night was scheduled to do, but that is not exactly what members of the public who signed up to speak wanted to talk about.
The Public Hearing
“What we’re going to propose tonight and what we took to the Planning Board is to create a new land use specific to this in the UDO,” Bland said at the start of the public hearing Monday night. “The definition would be a facility used primarily for providing computation services such as cloud computing, data storage, artificial intelligence, cryptocurrency mining, high-performance, computing and other high-impact digital infrastructure facilities involved in the general storage, management, processing and transmission of digital data. These facilities house computer and/or computer network system data and or related to servers, appliances, and other associated components related to digital data storage and operations.”
“That’s a mouthful, but it’s meant to encompass lots of different scenarios because what we think of as ‘data centers’ can be interpreted as lots of different things,” he admitted. “It can be something that is absolutely massive, which is probably what most people think of when these come up, but it can be something that can fit in one room as well, so we need to have a pretty broad definition to capture all the possibilities.
A slide from Assistant Planning Director Aaron Bland’s May 4 presentation on data centers to Brevard City Council. City of Brevard
“We’re proposing that this use only be allowed in a conditional zoning district with the general industrial base district,” Bland continued. “It would not be allowed in every other district in town and any proposal for something that meets that definition would come to you (City Council) as a conditional zoning district It would be a sight-specific rezoning.”
He then said this type of land-use zoning has specific standards and conditions that, if met, can be tailored to a particular type of situation without the tight parameters of a quasi-judicial hearing.
“You guys can have a much more open process you can follow when considering these,” Bland explained to the Council. “It’s really more of a negotiation between the city and the applicant. That allows maximum flexibility to tailor the specific regulations to the specific project and you would also have the ability to impose conditions to address impacts that are reasonably expected.”
Bland explained Monday night’s public hearing was to present these definitions for consideration for possible addition to the UDO.
What the laws say
City Attorney Mack McKeller prefaced the public comment part of the public hearing by telling those in attendance that a data center being approved or not being approved within the city limits of Brevard was not something that would be happening Monday night.
“The Constitution of North Carolina has a clause in it that says everybody is entitled to the fruit of their own labor,” McKeller calmly explained. “And so, if you said, ‘You can’t build a data center in Brevard,” that would be illegal. That would be an illegal act by the city. This is a reasonable way to say ‘You’re allowed to do it, but we want to have some say in how it is done and put reasonable regulations on that.’”
“Looking at some of the newspaper articles and the things that get said online and out in the world, it might look like some people want to say, ‘Oh, let’s just not do it at all,’ but that would not be allowed by law,” he continued. “This is a way for the city to be able to look at each project individually and say, “Is this something that is going to fit in our city … This conditional zoning gives us the maximum flexibility to make sure that if a project comes to our town, we will be able to say ‘Yes, this works’ or ‘No, it doesn’t,’ or ‘It will work if you do X, or Y, or Z.’’’
After that, five people who came to speak out against the City of Brevard allowing or endorsing the creation of a data center within the city limits had their say before City Council.
The people speak
First to speak was Phillip Health of Cedar Crest Drive.
“I grew up here, I just don’t want to see the resources go away,” Heath said wearing a white baseball cap and faded red t-shirt and jeans. “Talk about the river that’s coming down. The Davidson River … We’re already in a drought. That’s all I’ve got to say.”
He was followed by Tammy Heath, who was dressed similarly and was a little more verbose.
Tammy Heath, right, speaks to Brevard City Council during a May 4 public hearing regarding data centers at Brevard City Hall.
Screenshot from City of Brevard livestream
“In the light of not being able to legally say ‘No data centers here,’ I just want to say we have a very unique town where tourists come from miles around to see us here in Brevard,” she said. “I don’t want to see our natural resources and beauty of our area go to a data center where it’s taking more of the resources than it’s giving to our community and our people.”
Rebecca Nunnacey of West French Broad Street said she was also against the data center concept in Brevard.
Rebecca Nunnacey, right, speaks to Brevard City Council during a May 4 public hearing regarding data centers at Brevard City Hall.
Screenshot from City of Brevard livestream
“I am actually encouraged to learn that you are addressing this situation before a request actually came before you,” Nunnacey said from behind her glasses and green cardigan sweater. “I am encouraged that you are putting in what looks like the strongest guidelines that are available legally because I think that it indicates, possibly, my views as expressed by the two previous speakers that we do have a very special area. We are in a very severe drought. We are very dependent in our economy on tourism and if we see the usage for electricity, for water and its impact on the environment as far as increased temperatures even without providing for a lot of additional jobs that we’re going to have a very bad impact on our local economy if we do allow data centers to come in without giving due consideration. Thank you for addressing that.”
Blaise McCall, of North Country Club Road, stood before City Council in a baseball cap, black basketball shorts and a large green t-shirt with the words “Jesus is King” written on the back to talk about what data centers could mean for the area’s fish population.
“The biggest thing for me is I’m an avid outdoorsman. I love hunting, I love fishing, I love all that,” the 32-year-old military veteran and Transylvania County native said to the council members. “The trout, if you don’t know, they get lethargic over 65, 66, 67 degree water temperatures, which we’re already reaching in the summertimes here. Which we’re already reaching, so it’s already an issue. Besides that, we already have a limited for public use of rivers besides just in the forest because of private property and stuff like that, which is understandable. I don’t know. I just … I just don’t like the idea of it and Clay County put in some sort of ban, but they worded it in the correct way. I think that would be in the best interest to preserve the beauty of our county.”
The final speaker was Lane Herrlinger of Sutton Creek Road in Pisgah Forest.
Lane Herrlinger, right, speaks to Brevard City Council during a May 4 public hearing regarding data centers at Brevard City Hall.
Screenshot from City of Brevard livestream
“I think everybody is on the same page here to support and do the best thing to raise things the right way,” Herrlinger said, wearing a subdued grey t-shirt and blue jeans. “We wish we could ban it, but if we can’t, let’s do the best thing to make them jump through so many hoops that they don’t want to, right?
“Some of the crazy stats are it could increase the ambient temperature by 3 degrees Celsius. So you think your friends that you make fun of in Charlotte or Raleigh who have to suffer through the heat on our nice cold spring days? That could be a thing within 6.2 miles of a data center. It can raise the temperature 3 degrees Celsius. I don’t know what that converts to Farenheight, I’m not that smart, but its quite a bit.
“That increase, I’m totally sure, could kill species endemic to this area,” he continued. “We’re in a temperate rain forest. It doesn’t feel like it right now, but most of the time we are. Imagine how less it would be with a data center here. When you’re supporting data centers, you’re supporting businesses like Google, Facebook … mega-companies that to me are essentially useless. I guess they have some uses, but I don’t necessarily support them,” he said as he began to slowly pace behind the podium in the middle of the mostly empty room.
“Data centers, to me, they are the driving force of those businesses. I think within 6.2 miles they could affect you,” Herrlinger said. “Let’s say they put one where the old Ecusta was. Six-point-two miles as the crow flies is pretty far. It gets here. It gets to Mills River. It gets all over the place. I don’t know anybody .. liberal, republican, young or old … who is in favor of supporting them. I don’t know who these people are who want them, but I believe there is not too many of them in this room.”
Consensus on closing the hearing … for now
After the public hearing was closed, Councilman Gary Daniel, Attorney McKeller and Assistant Planning Director Bland summed up the proceedings best with this exchange:
“I appreciate the staff looking into this with the realization that the state legislature pretty well ties our hands on the ultimate resolution of this,” Daniel said.
“I believe the state legislature could pass a law depending on how they interpret the ‘fruits of your labor’clause,’” interjected McKeller. “In fact, there have been a couple bills put into the legislature, but they haven’t yet …”
“It’s been commented on .. the rumors on Facebook .. and I would like to address one thing: the Ecusta site. That site is under a special-use permit; is that not correct?” Daniel asked.
“It has a conditional use zoning district and a development agreement,” Bland responded.
“Which means it cannot have a data center on it … ” Daniel continued.
“Not without completely renegotiating all of that,” Bland said.
“So that is just kind of off-the-wall where that rumor came from because that’s not allowed there now, even though there are other places where it might be allowed,” Daniel said. “I just want to clarify that.”
No action was taken on any proposed amendments regarding data centers nor their relationship to the UDO at the May 4 Brevard City Council meeting .
A vote on proposed amendments to the city’s Unified Development Ordinance could happen at the May 15 Brevard City Council meeting, but the agenda for that meeting will not be shared until closer to that date.
Jonathan Rich can be reached via email at Editor@BrevardBeagle.com