Project Delta data center, Walnut Cove, North Carolina

On September 14, 2026 the Stokes County Board of Commissioners voted 3-2 to rezone roughly 1,800 acres of farmland near Walnut Cove, in Stokes County, North Carolina, for Engineered Land Solutions' Project Delta data center. It was the same margin as the board's first vote in January, which was later voided after a legal challenge. The land came from Triad developer David Couch's company, DFC Stokes, and ELS is the data center proponent.

Hundreds of people came to the January rezoning meeting to oppose it, and graves tied to the Hairston Clan lie on the land, along with concerns about water and air pollution. The Southern Coalition for Social Justice and the Southern Environmental Law Center then sued for the National Hairston Clan, Cleanaire NC, the Dan River Basin Association, 7 Directions of Service and more than a dozen residents, alleging the rezoning was not done by the book. “Both amendments were not properly noticed, so that made it harder for concerned residents to participate in the process, especially because it basically took place from Thanksgiving to New Year's,” said Anne Harvey David, the coalition's chief counsel. The commissioners rescinded the rezoning and voided the text amendment that had made data centers a permitted use in heavy manufacturing districts, and ELS warned the county stood “to lose $20–$40 million in potential annual tax revenue” and said it would resubmit.

Residents who spoke before the September vote were uniformly opposed. Chairman Wayne Barneycastle and Commissioner Brad Chandler voted no again, Chandler saying the board had too little time to review changes: “I hope, I pray to God, that if we continue down this road tonight with this hyperscale data center, that y'all are right if you vote for it as is.” Commissioner Keith Wood voted after the county attorney found no conflict in his past work at CMC Rebar, a possible supplier, and Commissioner Sonya Cox, a former school board member, noted that voters had rejected several attempts to raise taxes. Resident Tim Smith cited an economic analysis, funded by the Southern Environmental Law Center, that projected far less tax revenue than ELS estimates: “It is not going to bring the money in that they say it is.”

ELS CEO Drew Nations said the proposal had changed since January to include stricter standards on noise, energy generation and water use. The county's rezoning decision is made, and David would not say whether another lawsuit is planned, only that the group's fight over the project is not over.