The Prince William Board of County Supervisors has approved a 64-acre data center project on Dumfries Road.
Dubbed the Mid-County Industrial Park, County Supervisors voted 5-3 in favor despite a recommendation for denial from the planning commission, reports InsideNova.
The campus will be located around 250 feet northwest of the intersection of Dumfries and Minnieville roads and will border the Potomac Reserve community.
The project being put forward by Minnieville Capital Acquisitions seeks to rezone 40 acres from agricultural to industrial use, as well as to use 20 acres within the Colchester Industrial Park to transform into a data center campus. The campus will have three data center buildings and an electric substation.
“The project site is located entirely within the Data Center Opportunity Zone Overlay District, which permits and promotes the development of data centers within areas of the County with existing infrastructure that could adequately support the proposed use,” reads an excerpt from county staff findings.
Following on from the planning commission's previous recommendation for denial and public feedback, Minnieville Capital Acquisitions made five adjustments to the proposal including increased screening along the eastern side of the property and Dumfries Road, reforestation of the space between the tree preservation area and data centers, a twelve-foot screening wall around the substation, and decreasing the height of the buildings closest to Route 234 to 75 feet.
“Part of this parcel was already zoned for industrial [use]. That means if there can be a data center there, it's what kind of data center, and how high it can be or how much mitigation is in place," Occoquan supervisor Kenny Boddye said. "If we vote no, there still could be an industrial use here without us being able to put any mitigations in place whatsoever because the by-right restrictions are a heck of a lot less than what the applicant has agreed to with this project.”
In close proximity to the site are seven homes, all located on John Mallard Drive and around 100 feet from the substation. According to the application, five of those seven have shown support for the development. The other two did not respond.
The wider Potomac Reserve Residents have however spoken against the project.
Prince William County is a major data center hub. In April, Google announced that it would be investing $1 billion in expanding its three data center campuses in Virginia - one of which is in Prince William County. Microsoft and Amazon also have campuses in development or operation in the county.
In March 2024, CorScale started work on a second building at its Gainesville campus in Prince William County.
