Walnut Cove residents and organizations involved in a lawsuit are encouraged after the Stokes County Board of Commissioners voted this week to formally void its rezoning decision and text amendment that would have cleared the way for a massive data center along the Dan River.
Commissioners acknowledged in the resolution, passed Monday, that the county failed to meet statutory notice requirements before approving the massive “Project Delta” hyperscale data center complex. Their decision comes on the heels of a lawsuit filed by Southern Coalition for Social Justice (SCSJ) and Southern Environmental Law Center (SELC) on behalf of 13 residents and four cultural and environmental nonprofits.
The plaintiffs and attorneys welcome the county’s acknowledgment that the process was flawed, which concedes a core claim in the lawsuit. They say the vote creates a critical window for the county to adopt stronger data center development zoning protections, ensure transparency, and take the time to fully evaluate the far-reaching impacts such a project could have on the community. The lawsuit remains pending, and plaintiffs are considering next steps.
In the resolution, the county recognizes both actions taken by Commissioners on January 12, 2026 are void because of faulty notice — their decision to rezone approximately 1,845 acres of residential-agricultural land on the Dan River for heavy manufacturing use and to pass a text amendment that would open more than a dozen mostly rural sites across the county to future data centers. Those decisions carried profound consequences for air quality, water, sacred sites, and families with generations of roots along the Dan River and drew fierce community opposition.
“We’re glad the county recognized the flaws in their process and that their decisions cannot stand, but the communities of Walnut Cove deserve more than a do-over,” said Anne Harvey David, Chief Counsel for Environmental Justice at SCSJ. “They deserve a process that takes seriously what is at stake for them.”
