Citing what they called the center’s low potential impact on the environment and strong economic benefits, board members voted 6-0 to recommend Dallas-based Compass Datacenters’ rezoning request.
The Planning Board issues recommendations to the Statesville City Council, which has final say on rezonings.
If the council approves the request on Sept. 15, Compass will develop a five-building center spanning 340 acres off the Stamey Farm Road exit on Interstate 40.
Each building would be about 270,000 square feet, or nearly five NFL football fields. Each would have 40 backup generators in case of outages, according to the developer’s application.
The Stamey family and their land- and farm-related companies own the eight parcels that form the proposed data center site, Iredell County public tax records show. The parcels have a total assessed value of $3.46 million, including land and buildings.
“My grandfather was a true economic developer at heart, and my dad wanted the land to be used wisely,” David Stamey told The Charlotte Observer last week. “We know they’d be proud of this innovative development.”
Stamey described data as “the fastest growing commodity and a huge part of all of our lives.”
And his family believes Compass Datacenters is “the right developer — thoughtful, experienced and aligned with what’s best for the city, county and region,” he said.
“This project will generate long-term revenue for the city and county, without the disruption that some other proposals would have brought,” Stamey said.
Stamey Farms is about 49 miles northwest of Charlotte.
In a report filed with the Compass rezoning application, city of Statesville planning staff recommended the rezoning be approved, if lanes are added to Stamey Farm Road and U.S. 70 at the site.
The primary entrance is near the I-40 Stamey Farm Road interchange, and a data center “is a less intensive use regarding traffic than a distribution center or retail development,” planners wrote.
The data center plan also shows large vegetative buffers and “an expanse of undeveloped land” between the buildings and their neighbors, planning staff members said.
Data center belongs elsewhere, 16 residents tell board
None of the assurances appeased neighbors Tuesday night.
During a public hearing before the board’s vote, Samuel Estes said as a boy, he cut through cornfields from his home on Old Mountain Road to look at the Stamey family’s cows. They calmed him down when he was having a bad day, he said, as did the country setting.
“If you want to build a data center, by all means do it,” the 17-year firefighter said. “But you’re picking the wrong place to do it. You have prime location on West Front Street, on Highway 90 near Kewaunee (Scientific Corp.). You go out to Highway 70 to Statesville Business Park, that’s prime location, too.
“Why should my house and my house value be affected?” Estes asked. “Stamey’s is going to make money off this. Y’all are going to make money off this. But my value is going to go down.”
Fighting tears, Estes said he wants his 11-year-old son to experience what he did growing up. “Don’t rip my child’s childhood away,” he said to applause from the audience of about 100 people.
Fifteen other residents also urged the board to reject the request, citing noise, light and air pollution concerns. Seven residents backed the center, in part saying the center would be a far less intense use of the property than a mega subdivision or a manufacturing plant.
Jeff Tucker, who lives within a mile of the farm, led about a dozen concerned neighbors in prayer outside City Hall an hour before the hearing. He and the others later spoke before the board.
“I’ve lived in that area my whole life, raised there, went to work on the farm when I was 12 years old,” Tucker, 70, told The Charlotte Observer. “I’m not against change coming, but we want to know what it is, and we want full disclosure. We don’t know anything, and they’re fast-tracking to push it.
“We don’t want it stuck down our throats, is what we’re after,” Tucker said.
Gordon Moore lives on Gilbert Road a half-mile from the farm.
He cited noise from the 200 diesel-powered generators that would provide backup electricity at the data center in case of a power outage.
The generators can produce up to 110 decibels – “worse than having any race track next door to your house,” he said.
“I didn’t move in next to a data center,” Moore said. “I’ve been in my home for 22 years. It was out in the county. I realized that growth is going to come, but this is not smart growth.”
Jennifer Ostwalt, who lives off the I-40 Old Mountain Road exit, said the environmental impact is her top concern, including demands on the area’s water and power supplies.
Sheila Shuford, who lives less than a mile from the farm, said she’s concerned about the potential public health impact.
As a 37-year nurse, she said, she’s “well aware of cardiovascular impacts on our society. Many people already suffer from asthma and COP. This affects my grandchildren’s ability to breathe clean air.”
© 2025 The Charlotte Observer. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
