A project like this benefits the community in a different way than a retail store, restaurant, or other public-facing business. Residents may not interact with the facility as they would with a shop or service, but it can still provide meaningful value to the community.  Data centers employ skilled workers with competitive salaries and benefits but do not generate large amounts of traffic or large delivery trucks.

One of the most important benefits is the addition of significant commercial property value to the City’s tax base. That tax base helps support critical municipal services residents rely on every day, including police, fire, streets, sanitation, and other core services. Expanding and diversifying the commercial tax base is important because it helps the City provide those services without placing the same level of added burden on existing residential and other property owners. Additional tax base and revenue helps stabilize and potentially reduce the property tax rate in our community.

The project can also help diversify Salisbury’s economy. A healthy local economy includes a mix of residential, commercial, industrial, and technology-related investment. Diversification strengthens the community over time and helps reduce reliance on any one type of land use or revenue source.

In addition, this type of project represents major private investment in the community and can provide long-term value through improvements to the property and surrounding area. It can also make productive use of land that is vacant or already industrial in character, while adding to the City’s overall financial stability.

The company would pay 100 percent of its real and personal property taxes. The developer has not requested any incentives from the City, and the City has not offered any incentives that would reduce its property tax obligation. As proposed, the project would be fully subject to city and county property taxes.

Industries, including data centers, pay property taxes to cities and counties. Residents and neighborhoods benefit from these taxes as the revenue helps pay for roads, housing, parks, transportation, police, fire, recreation, schools and other public services provided by local governments.  Additionally, economic development, including data centers and other industries, benefit communities by adding jobs that employ and compensate citizens.  Salisbury has not used specific benefit agreements for economic development projects but has captured infrastructure requirements as part of incentive/developer agreements.  There is no incentive agreement recommended or requested for the proposed data center project on Henderson Grove Church Road.  The City works with developers, Rowan Economic Development Commission and others, to encourage additional community benefits through economic development projects including commitments to local hiring, training programs, and adequate pay and benefits.

 

Based on the company’s early estimates, the facility is expected to create approximately 40 jobs. That number could change as the project moves forward and the final operating plan is developed. Data centers typically create jobs in two phases. During construction, they support temporary jobs in site work, building construction, electrical work, and other skilled trades. Once the facility is operating, they employ permanent staff in areas such as operations, maintenance, security, and technical support.

In addition to the direct jobs at the facility, data centers can also support ancillary jobs through contractors, vendors, and service providers that assist with maintenance, landscaping, equipment servicing, utilities, and other operational needs.

While concerns about property values are understandable, there is not clear evidence that data centers uniformly reduce nearby property values. Impacts can vary based on the specific location, surrounding land uses, site design, screening, and operational characteristics, which is why the City has focused on increasing setbacks and buffering to provide greater separation from adjacent properties.  In some cities, data centers have increased property values of nearby properties.

 

This project aligns with Salisbury’s Strategic Plan in two key ways. It represents private investment that can strengthen the tax base and support City services, and it does so without creating the same traffic, freight, and service demands as many other large-scale developments. That makes it consistent with the City’s goals for quality growth, sustainability, and responsible infrastructure planning.

Unlike a shopping center, warehouse, or other high-traffic commercial use, a data center does not generate the same level of daily customer traffic, delivery activity, or heavy truck movement. As a result, it has less impact on surrounding roads, produces fewer vehicle-related emissions, and creates less congestion than many other large-scale developments.

It also generally requires fewer day-to-day municipal services. It does not create the same need for public parking, frequent traffic management, or other routine City services that often accompany more active commercial uses.

For any incentive agreement approved by the City of Salisbury, the agreement must be considered and approved by City Council in a public meeting and includes a public hearing for citizens to share concerns and thoughts for Council consideration.  Any proposed agreements are made public prior to Council consideration with release of meeting agenda.  For the proposed data center project on Henderson Grove Church Road, no incentive has been approved by City Council. No incentive is recommended by the City for this project, and no incentive is being requested by the project developer or data center company. 

The previous incentive agreement was with MidAtlantic Development V, Inc. for a proposed 500,000-square-foot industrial facility. The project was expected to include an estimated $35 million investment, and Council approved an incentive equal to a 90 percent reimbursement of real property taxes paid over a three-year period. Council approved the agreement on April 5, 2022, and later approved a one-year extension on February 20, 2024. The project did not move forward, and the incentive agreement expired on December 31, 2025.

Typically, Salisbury Fire Department (SFD) cost is zero when we partner with Rowan-Cabarrus Community College (RCCC) for firefighter training.   Fire Chief Parnell has toured a Flexential Data Center, and SFD has scheduled a meeting with RCCC regarding specific data center response training.  Through RCCC and SFD, all area emergency response agencies will have access to such training.

SFD has already had training for data center components including electrical equipment, batteries, and fuels. We evaluate building plans, design and contents to assure our training is current.  Additionally, we have specific specialized teams including the hazardous materials team for any such needs. We do not anticipate any significant cost for additional training. 

The Salisbury Fire Department enforces the state Building Code Council Volume 5 (the fire code) that includes facility fire safety compliance and components.  Extinguishers, sprinkler systems, alarm and notifications systems, exits and egress, access and vehicle fire lanes, internal and external separations, and electrical disconnect systems, and other fire safety facilities are included.  We inspect properties according to Volume 5 frequencies.  Radio signals for internal/external fire communication are held to code. 

In North Carolina, any cleanup of sites is the responsibility of the spiller with oversight of state and local specialists.  The North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ), Emergency Management and Rowan County Emergency Management have a specific ordinance regarding clean ups along with a very specific assignment of responsibility and oversight of which we enforce and support.

The approval process for this proposed data center requires a “text amendment,” or change in the City’s zoning law. The process includes a proposed amendment submitted as part of a text amendment application.

In this case an application was submitted by the developer. The next step in the process is for staff to conduct research on the topic as well as the proposed amendment. Once the research is concluded, staff will forward a recommendation concerning the proposed amendment to the Planning Board, then to City Council for consideration. Staff’s recommendation concerning data centers, in general, is to follow the Conditional District Rezoning process.

Conditional District rezoning is a multi-step process beginning with the applicant holding a Community Meeting before submitting their application. Staff then begins its review process ending in a recommended “Master Plan,” which is part of the rezoning process. The rezoning application is sent to the Planning Board for review and recommendation as part of the rezoning process. It then moves forward to City Council for review and approval, approval with conditions, or denial.

The community meeting, Planning Board meeting and City Council all have public input components. City Council has the final authority to approve or deny this proposed project. If Council votes to approve the rezoning application, the master plan and any conditions placed on the development by Council becomes part of the zoning law for property.

If approved as stated above, and later the developer wants to make substantial changes, they would have to go through the entire rezoning process again. Additionally, because of site restrictions, expansion of the footprint is limited.

This proposed project would be located within the City of Salisbury. There may be another data center being considered outside Salisbury’s jurisdiction, but it would be separate from this proposed project. Compliance with the Land Development Ordinance and any conditions that may be imposed during the conditional zoning process, should City Council approve such a process and the project itself, would be enforced by the Land and Development Services Department. Failure to comply would be subject to penalties contained within Chapter 17, Violations and Penalties, of the Land Development Ordinance.

The application for a text amendment was submitted by Trammell Crow, a property developer representing Flexential, the end user of the proposed data center. Once an application has been submitted, the City is required by our Land Development Ordinance to process the application to its end.

The application for the text amendment was submitted in October 2025. Since that time, City staff has been researching the topic of data centers in preparation of a recommendation. As part of that research, staff spoke with other communities that have existing data centers to understand concerns and responses. April 14 was an additional component of the research to gather citizen input before moving forward.

The text amendment will be presented to the Planning Board on April 28, 2026, and then to City Council on May 19, 2026. If approved, the timeline for any resulting development would depend on the full approval process. Should City Council approve the conditional zoning approach, it could take three to four months for final approval of a specific project.

No. The applicant submits a proposed ordinance, which staff then reviews and researches before making a recommendation to the Planning Board and City Council. The City is currently in the review and recommendation phase following research and public input.

A Special Use Permit allows certain uses if approved by the Board of Adjustment, an appointed citizen board. These hearings are judicial in nature, based on facts, and do not include a public discussion forum. Applicants must demonstrate compliance with specific regulations.

Conditional District rezoning is a multi-step legislative process requiring City Council approval. It begins with a community meeting, followed by Planning Board review and recommendation, then City Council public hearing and decision. This process allows Council to impose additional conditions tailored to the development.

The developer has proposed an approximately 400,000 sq. ft. facility.  There is no present calculation on the amount of expected light pollution as no construction documents have been submitted detailing the types of lighting proposed. Staff is considering a recommendation to add a standard to the proposed text amendment that would help mitigate light pollution that would apply to all development in the Salisbury’s zoning jurisdiction.

Noise, including constant humming sounds and decibel levels, is a concern widely considered detrimental regarding data centers. In response to the text amendment application, staff is considering a recommendation to require the data center to incorporate sound dampening technology that limits the decibel at the property line adjacent to residential property equal to that of a normal conversation. The site for the project has adjacent uses that include Interstate 85, a railroad track and other industrial uses.

The proposed draft requires that all data centers be “closed loop” systems which greatly reduces water usage. All requests for water and/or sanitary sewer service are subject to Chapter 25 of the Code of Ordinances for the City of Salisbury. With regards to a proposed discharge of wastewater, Article VIII (Sewer Use) details sewer use and permitting requirements, including prohibited discharge standards, pretreatment standards and local limits. Chapter 25 can be accessed here: https://bit.ly/4tZdYn9

Currently in the Land Development Ordinance 30% of all new development must be reserved for tree conservation. An additional staff consideration is to add an ordinance standard to increase setbacks and buffers to increase the undisturbed tree canopy as well.