Charlotte residents can weigh in on the city's data center moratorium at a public hearing Monday, Oct. 12, the last chance for comment before the council votes on extending the ban through October 2027.

The Charlotte City Council voted unanimously on Sept. 28 to schedule the hearing, the Charlotte Observer reported. Council Member Dimple Ajmera made the motion, according to council records.

The hearing is the last chance for public comment before the council votes on whether to extend its 150-day moratorium on new telecommunications and data storage facilities. The pause, approved June 8, expires Nov. 5. If extended, the moratorium would last an additional 11 months, through Oct. 11, 2027, according to the Observer.

Data centers are allowed by right in eight zoning districts across Charlotte, meaning developers do not need city approval. The extension would not affect projects already under construction.

"This is going to have an impact on our pocketbooks, on our water, on our electricity grid, our neighborhoods, our quality of life, and that matters," Ajmera said on Sept. 9, when a council committee first advanced the extension recommendation, as WSOC reported.

A 19-member community task force that began meeting in August reviewed water, energy, planning and zoning concerns and recommended extending the moratorium, WBT reported. City staff said they need more time to develop zoning standards, conservation plans and noise regulations, and to coordinate with outside agencies including the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality (NCDEQ), the N.C. Utilities Commission and Duke Energy.

Duke Energy declined to participate. The company was asked to join the task force and a data center town hall hosted by Ajmera but turned down both, the Observer reported.

Of 233 people who responded to the city's survey as of Sept. 2, 78% said they were opposed or strongly opposed to data centers. Seventeen percent were in favor or strongly in favor. WBT noted those results represent survey respondents, not a poll of Charlotte's full population.

City staff said data center growth could make it harder for Charlotte to meet its 2035 and 2050 carbon-reduction goals.

Residents who want to speak at the hearing can sign up through the city's online form. Speakers must register with the Office of the City Clerk by 1 p.m. on the day of the meeting or at the meeting before the agenda item is called.