Justin Laidlaw

Lakes across the Triangle are beginning to look like the surface of Mars. Though no one has been forced to emulate fictional astronaut Mark Watney and turn rocket fuel into water for survival, the Triangle is in the midst of the worst drought the region has seen in over a decade, one of the hardest hit areas in a state where every corner is experiencing some level of drought. Corey Davis has spent his career understanding environmental scenarios like the one Triangle residents are facing today.

On Monday, Durham County joined a growing list of local governments looking to bring data center construction to a halt. The Durham County Board of Commissioners voted unanimously to revise the Unified Development Ordinance (UDO), giving the county expanded power to lengthen the duration of a data center moratorium in the future. At the start of the public hearing, board chair Mike Lee reiterated that the hearing would be specific to the UDO ordinance, not a moratorium vote.

Old East Durham has a long history as an industrial hub, but some property owners in the area want to further transform the district into a residential and commercial destination. Currently, the district is sliced up by incongruent zoning types. A significant portion of the area is still zoned for industrial uses, even as the neighborhood has slowly reconstituted to include more houses and small businesses.