The hyperscale AI data center proposal known as Project Delta cleared its final land-use hurdle on September 14, 2026, when the Stokes County Board of Commissioners approved a conditional rezoning for a nearly 2,000-acre campus along US Highway 311 near Walnut Cove, North Carolina. The vote was first reported by WXII 12 News and covered by Blue Ridge Public Radio, the Stokes County Government public hearing notice, and the Southern Coalition for Social Justice.

The Board of Commissioners voted 3-2 to rezone approximately 1,848.74 acres of residential-agricultural farmland to a Heavy Manufacturing Conditional Zoning District (M-2-CZ), clearing the way for Project Delta to proceed into permitting. The developer's CEO stated that the project now enters the permitting phase of preconstruction, with all required permits expected over the next 18 months before breaking ground.

No specific building count, total square footage, or named tenant has been publicly confirmed. The benefit projections have been disputed by the Southern Environmental Law Center and an economic report cited by the Southern Coalition for Social Justice.

The petitioner and developer is Engineered Land Solutions, LLC. The land is owned by DFC Stokes, LLC and DFC Stokes 2, LLC, covering parcels along US Highway 311, Tuttle Road, Oldtown Road, and Coon Joyce Road. No hyperscale tenant or operator has been publicly named as of the rezoning approval. The identity of the end user, which could significantly affect construction scope and hiring timelines, remains one of the more consequential unknowns in this project's public record.

The approval was not smooth. The Board of Commissioners first approved the rezoning in January 2026 by the same 3-2 margin, but that vote was voided over a procedural issue, forcing the developer to refile in July 2026. On August 13, 2026, the Planning Board voted 5-2 to recommend denial before the commissioners overrode that recommendation on September 14. Opposition has included the Southern Environmental Law Center and the Southern Coalition for Social Justice, both of which have challenged the projected community benefit figures. The narrow and contested nature of the approvals suggests ongoing scrutiny through the permitting phase.

A several-hundred-megawatt campus on a nearly 2,000-acre site is a generational construction event for Stokes County, but the local labor base will not be enough to staff it alone. Here is what the geography actually looks like for workforce planning: The Greensboro-High Point-Winston-Salem Triad, roughly 20-30 miles away, is the realistic labor shed for this project. It carries a meaningful pool of electricians, HVAC technicians, pipefitters, and general construction trades shaped by decades of manufacturing, logistics, and power generation work. That base can be mobilized through both union and non-union contractors, with building trades activity centered more in the Triad than in Stokes County itself. The Belews Creek power plant is the underappreciated workforce advantage. Communities that grow up around large industrial power facilities develop a resident population with process, electrical, and mechanical skills that translate directly to data center MEP systems. Cross-training that existing talent pool is faster and cheaper than importing critical-facilities technicians from Charlotte or the Research Triangle, which is where most of North Carolina's current data center operations expertise sits. Specialized roles, including critical-facilities technicians, commissioning engineers, and controls personnel, will need to be recruited from outside the county and likely outside the Triad. Competing draws on regional trades from ongoing warehouse, logistics, and manufacturing projects in the Triad add further pressure on the same electrician and HVAC pools that a project of this scale will need. For a deeper look at roles, pay ranges, and where the talent pipeline actually sits, see our guide to hiring data center talent in Stokes County, North Carolina. Sources: WXII 12 News, which first reported the rezoning approval, with additional coverage from the Stokes County Government public hearing notice, Blue Ridge Public Radio, and the Southern Coalition for Social Justice.