Judge allows Chatham data center to proceed despite moratorium
A Superior Court judge ruled in favor of Eco TIP West, allowing its data center project in Chatham County, North Carolina, to proceed. The ruling overrides the county's moratorium on new data centers, asserting that Eco TIP West had vested rights and that the moratorium was unlawfully applied to their project. The court also indicated Eco TIP West is entitled to attorney's fees and damages.
A Superior Court judge has ruled that a data center project by Eco TIP West in Chatham County, North Carolina, can move forward, despite the county's enacted moratorium on new data centers. Judge John Morris issued a summary judgment in favor of Eco TIP West, determining that the company had existing vested rights in its project prior to the county commissioners' decision in February to block new data centers for a year.
Eco TIP West had sued Chatham County in April, arguing that its 750-megawatt data center project at the Moncure megasite was already underway and was a use permitted by right under the county's Heavy Industrial zoning ordinance. The company's lawyers contended that the moratorium was a "legal trainwreck" that violated statutory mandates and property rights, and that county officials had unlawfully refused to process its pending site plan application.
The ruling grants Eco TIP West attorney's fees and reserves the determination of damages for future proceedings. The county had argued that the moratorium was validly adopted and that Eco TIP West had no vested right to construct a data center. This decision allows the project to bypass the county's one-year development freeze, reinforcing the developer's claims of protected property rights.