Spartanburg council passed a 12-month pause on new data centers Sept. 25, then reconvened after adjournment to reconsider it. Attorney Jay Bender said the session violated notice law; the county said it followed council rules and would re-adopt the online version in October.
At the Sept. 25 public meeting, the amended moratorium exempted data centers at former industrial sites or industrial parks and those under 65 megawatts. A county Facebook summary posted the next day was slightly more restrictive and matched a different version of the ordinance posted online; spokeswoman Scottie Kay Blackwell called the discrepancy a “scrivener’s error.”
Blackwell said media who were on site were invited back into chambers before the vote was reconsidered, but did not specify which journalists remained. Bender said a reconvened session requires notice and argued the second vote should have no effect, leaving the version initially passed on final reading in force. Attendee Clemson Turregano said he was walking to the parking lot no more than five to seven minutes after adjournment and wondered how council members reconvened so quickly.
