Newport NC data center moratorium (2026)

Newport, N.C. (Carteret County) — TEMPORARY DEVELOPMENT MORATORIUM approved by the TOWN COUNCIL, reported 2026-09-16. SCOPE IS USE-DEFINED, NOT SIZE-THRESHOLD: covers DATA CENTERS, DATA PROCESSING FACILITIES, CRYPTOCURRENCY MINING OPERATIONS AND ASSOCIATED USES. The 'associated uses' catch-all is the anti-recharacterisation device and is the feature absent from the square-footage and megawatt-threshold moratoria elsewhere in this dataset (cf. Bemidji MN one-year data center moratorium (2026) in this wave: 10,000 sq ft for data centers, any size for crypto). TERRITORIAL SCOPE IS THE MOST IMPORTANT FEATURE: the moratorium applies WITHIN BOTH THE TOWN OF NEWPORT AND ITS EXTRATERRITORIAL JURISDICTION. North Carolina municipalities may exercise zoning authority over an ETJ ring of unincorporated county land under N.C. Gen. Stat. § 160D-202. ETJ COVERAGE CLOSES THE JURISDICTIONAL GAP THAT HAS DEFEATED MORATORIA ELSEWHERE IN THIS DATASET — most directly the Athens matter, where the site lay OUTSIDE THE CITY LIMITS and the municipal pause therefore could not reach it. A town-limits-only moratorium relocates a project; an ETJ moratorium does not. DURATION IS EXPRESSED AS A FLOOR: 'will remain in place FOR AT LEAST ONE YEAR' — unusual phrasing, since most moratoria state a fixed term and require affirmative extension. NOTE THE TENSION: N.C. Gen. Stat. § 160D-107 governs development moratoria and requires, for any moratorium exceeding 60 days on development for which no valid building permit has issued, a hearing and written findings including a DEFINITE DURATION and the specific problems justifying it. 'AT LEAST ONE YEAR' AS REPORTED DOES NOT OBVIOUSLY SATISFY A 'DEFINITE DURATION' REQUIREMENT, WHICH SUGGESTS THE ADOPTED ORDINANCE STATES A FIXED TERM THAT THE REPORTING HAS PARAPHRASED. THIS IS FLAGGED, NOT RESOLVED — expires_date is left NULL rather than computed for exactly this reason. TRIGGERING CONDITION: Newport's current UNIFIED DEVELOPMENT ORDINANCE DOES NOT SPECIFICALLY ADDRESS DATA CENTERS OR ESTABLISH STANDARDS governing their development — the code-silence diagnosis recorded at Clayton OH 365-day data center moratorium (2026), Palm Springs Data Center Moratorium (2026), Forest Park GA 90-day data center moratorium (2026) and Sauk County WI 18-month data center moratorium (2026). A COMPREHENSIVE UDO REWRITE WAS ALREADY UNDERWAY, which is the strongest possible posture for defending a moratorium: the required showing is generally that the municipality is actively drafting, and Newport was already doing so before the pause. Town Manager MICHELE QUERRY: 'With our Unified Development Ordinance already undergoing a comprehensive rewrite, this is an opportunity for the Town to take a thoughtful approach to data centers and related uses.' NORTH CAROLINA CLUSTER: Cary NC 18-month data center moratorium (2026), Yadkin County NC two-year data center moratorium (2026), Jackson County NC one-year data center moratorium (2026-02), with RALEIGH having directed its city attorney on 2026-09-15 to draft a six-month moratorium for a possible October 7 vote (deferred in the triage ledger, not an adopted measure).