SPARTANBURG, S.C. — Spartanburg County Council on Monday moved one data center forward and left another on hold, the latest turn in a months-long fight over how such projects should be allowed in the county.
By a 5-1 margin, members gave first-reading approval to a development agreement for the Lightstone Group’s data center on Jones Road. The lone dissent came from Councilmember Jessica Coker. The agreement needs two more readings before it becomes final.
The Jones Road plan calls for a 60-megawatt, 200,000-square-foot building on a former industrial site, powered from a utility rather than on-site generation. Under the deal the company must invest at least $100 million, create at least 25 full-time jobs and pay the county $9 million in community benefit payments over six years.
A separate agreement for the Valara/NorthMark project on South Pine Street went nowhere. Nobody seconded the motion, and Councilmember Monier Abusaft said members felt the protections in that document fell short of what had been discussed.
Council also had to vote again on its data center moratorium after amendments were read out of order in September. The changes passed 5 to 1 again and still allow projects under 65 megawatts if they meet location and power requirements.
The Jones Road developer must also file a noise study, plans for light and glare, a landscaping plan and annual environmental reports.
Section: More Spartanburg SC politics news
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