The Mooresville Board of Commissioners will convene on Monday, August 4, 2025, at 6:00 PM EDT at Town Hall, 413 N. Main St., to consider setting a new public hearing date for Teresa Earnhardt’s proposed $30 billion data center campus rezoning request. The hearing is scheduled for September 15, 2025, with the board typically voting on rezoning matters the same evening, pending the outcome of the public discussion.
Teresa Earnhardt, widow of NASCAR legend Dale Earnhardt, seeks to rezone 399 acres of undeveloped land she owns in east Mooresville into the Mooresville Technology Park, an industrial development located between Patterson Farm Road and Rustic Road near Cabarrus County. The property, part of the rural landscape off Rustic Road, has been a focal point of contention. Earnhardt and her late husband posed together in 1987 with his iconic No. 3 Chevy alongside an Air Guard jet fighter, a moment that contrasts with the current family discord. A feud has emerged between Earnhardt and her stepsons, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Kerry Earnhardt, over the proposed project.
Public opposition has been vocal, with residents launching a website to outline concerns including noise, traffic, and light pollution. Kerry Earnhardt, a resident near the site, expressed strong disapproval on social media Thursday, stating,
“My Dad would be livid for his name to be associated in this title!” He added, “Frankly, I’m ashamed our family name is involved in the request to rezone a community that is thriving as a rural residential/agriculture zone to be changed to Industrial.”
Kerry plans to attend the August 4 meeting, advocating against the project and suggesting, “Infrastructures like this don’t belong in neighborhoods where people’s natural resources will be depleted, wildlife will be uprooted, and the landscape and lives of the people that call this area home will forever be changed.” He proposed an alternative of “homes built with people loving the land we live on … the way this area was intended to be!”
The development is led by Tract, a Denver, Colorado-based data center developer. According to information provided, the project aims to “play a key role in supporting the Southeast’s digital needs.” Kristin Dean of Tract informed the Mooresville Planning Board that the park would create 277 “recession-resistant” jobs, including 195 positions paying $125,000 annually. The project is also projected to generate hundreds of millions of dollars in tax revenue for Mooresville, Iredell County, and local public schools over 20 years.
Town officials have taken steps to assess potential impacts. Commissioners Will Aven, Lisa Qualls, and Mayor Chris Carney visited a Google data center in Lenoir to evaluate noise and traffic conditions.
Additionally, Carney, accompanied by two reporters, used a decibel meter at the decade-old Apple data center campus on Startown Road in Maiden, Catawba County, recording negligible noise levels.
“If it weren’t for the occasional beeping of a backing up truck outside the neighboring Apple building, they wouldn’t hear a thing,” Carney noted during the visit.
Under Mooresville’s government structure, Carney holds the tie-breaking vote on 3-3 decisions by the seven-member board. However, he cautioned at a June informational meeting, “If you think you know where any of the seven people on this board are with this, you’re greatly mistaken,” indicating an open deliberation process.
The September 15 public hearing will provide a platform for community input, with the board’s decision to follow. The project’s future remains uncertain amid ongoing family and community debates.
This article was originally shared by Iredell County News and Weather.