Landowners in Prince William County, Virginia, are suing the county over their increased tax bills due to the controversial PW Digital Gateway project.
Elsewhere in Virginia, a vote on a data center in Fairfax County has been delayed; Stafford County's planning commission has recommended approval of a 500+ acre data center campus; Rappahannock County is looking for ways to keep out data centers; Loudoun County votes to approve an 81-acre campus; and Fredericksburg is hosting a meeting to look into the impact data center developments may have on the county.
Prince William landowners sue the county over tax bills
Twenty property owners whose land is set to become part of the PW Digital Gateway data center corridor are suing the county over their increasing tax bills, reports Inside Nova.
The PW Digital Gateway is a project in which QTS and Compass Datacenters are proposing to develop thousands of acres of greenfield land in Manassas for a massive data center development.
GW Acquisition Co. LLC, the land acquisition arm of QTS, has contracted to buy the landowner's property for the development. Those purchases stand to drastically increase the value of the land, but the sale is contingent on two data center zoning approvals being declared final and unappealable.
The project received the green light for rezoning the land in December 2023, following months of recommendations to deny rezoning. Despite this, lawsuits challenging the decision have been filed and are stalling the sale.
In the meantime, landowners are now being taxed based on the anticipated increased value of their land. Inside Nova reports that one parcel spanning 76.5 acres has jumped from an assessed value of $1.62 million in 2023 to over $25 million in 2024.
The landowners' lawsuit states that they are being taxed as if they had already sold the land when that has not yet been possible, making the tax assessments "erroneous and arbitrary and capricious," and based on "future speculative use in conglomeration with the other surrounding parcels and not upon the appropriate standards or upon factual and scientific analysis of each individual parcel’s worth, currently.”
They are seeking a correction of the assessments, and asking for a pro-rata share of a total refund of up to $1m each.
Reports of a PW Digital Gateway surfaced in 2021, originally as an 800-acre development later tied to QTS. However, more landowners joined and the proposal expanded to one that would turn some 2,133 acres of the county's "rural crescent" over to data centers.
In total, QTS is aiming to develop around 11.3 million gross sq ft (1.05 million sqm) of data center space, while Compass aims to develop up to 11.55 million sq ft (1.07 million sqm) of data center space.
Stafford County Planning Commission recommends approval of 504-acre data center campus
Stafford County's Planning Commission has recommended zoning approval for a close to 504-acre data center campus on the east side of US Route 1, across from Sage Lane, reports the Fredericksburg Free Press.
The campus, first proposed in April 2023 by Stafford Technology LC - an affiliate of Peterson Cos, is for 23 buildings in the Falmouth district with a total of 5.8 million sq ft of floor space (538,838 sqm).
Six electric substations are also proposed to serve the campus, and the developer will construct a road connecting US Route 1 to Eskimo Hill Road. In addition, the data center campus would be served by a water reuse system.
It is currently predicted that the campus will generate $88 million per year in tax revenue at buildout and create 600 “well-paying” permanent jobs, along with hundreds of construction jobs for the next seven to nine years.
The planning commission voted unanimously in favor of the development, with commission chairman Steven Apicella stating: “If we’re going to allow a data center campus anywhere in Stafford County, this would appear to be a very good location."
Regarding the potential tax income, Apicella added: “In my mind, that’s a significant amount of money that could help pay towards a new courthouse, a new school, or make significant transportation improvements over the life of this project. This will be one of, if not the most, significant development projects in the county’s history.”
Stafford County lies to the south of Prince William County and southeast of Fauquier County, on the Potomac River.
Peterson Cos is proposing data center developments elsewhere in Virginia, including in Dulles and Culpeper County.
Fairfax County delays data center regulations vote over consultation error
The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors has delayed a vote over tightening data center regulations after an error was discovered in its public consultation.
A new state law that took effect on July 1 requires local jurisdictions to advertise public hearings seven days prior, but Fairfax County only publicized the July 16 hearing four days before it took place.
That hearing was due to vote on new rules for future data centers in the county, which have already been given the green light by its Planning Commission.
The rules stipulate data centers must be at least 200 ft from residential properties, will require noise studies before building work can take place, and limit the size of developments in some circumstances.
They would also require screening for data centers in all districts enclosing mechanical gear, remove the option for larger data centers in C-3, C-4, and I-4 zones if done by repurposing a building, and double the distance for by-right near Metrorail stations to one mile.
The vote has been delayed until September 10.
"I know this was caught late in the day yesterday but this is ridiculous that we are in this position," Fairfax County board chair Jeff McKay said of the delay. "I would suggest we get our act together."
Fairfax County supervisor Pat Herrity has argued that the hearing should instead be scheduled in August. "This is going to have a big impact on a lot of our citizens," said Herrity. "People count on the decisions we make every day at the board of supervisors meetings and for them to have to wait 60 days, it's a big impact on people.”
“We normally recess in August, but our customers and our residents need to come first," added Herrity.
While the vote has been delayed, testimony was still heard at the July 16 meeting and will be entered into the official record. Any data center applications submitted after July 16 will be subject to the new regulations if they are approved.
Rappahannock County looks to avoid data centers
Elsewhere, the Rappahannock County planning commission is exploring changing its zoning ordinances to make it more difficult to develop data centers.
During a planning commission meeting on July 17, county administrator Garrey Curry said data centers are not currently mentioned in the ordinance, reports Rappahannock News.
Curry added that the only way a data center could be built is if it was developed as a warehouse, something that is allowed in the ordinance, and suggested adding to the definition that a warehouse is not a data center.
“I wouldn’t recommend doing anything other than that,” Curry said. “If you add a definition and you add it as a use, and you say they are allowed as a special exception, and then put a bunch of rules in, you're inviting somebody to come submit an application using those rules. And then if they do, you're in real trouble.”
The discussion comes as more data center developments are cropping up in neighboring counties.
The Planning Commission is to review its ordinance use table and definitions before the August meeting to see if anything needs to be changed to prevent data center developments from creeping into Rappahannock County.
Fredericksburg holds 'educational event' to discuss data center developments
Friends of Rappahannock and the Rappahannock Group of the Sierra Club hosted an educational event on data centers and the impact they have on communities on July 24, 2024.
The meeting featured a one-hour presentation from both groups and held a Q&A session for the public to voice any queries or concerns and community dynamics, both positive and negative.
Both Friends of Rappahannock (FOR) and the Rappahannock Group advocate for the protection of the local environment.
In an email to DCD, FOR said: "FOR acknowledges that data centers are integral to modern life, supporting essential digital infrastructure. However, the organization's concerns revolve around the lack of proper planning and guidelines, particularly highlighted by the deal with Amazon that was signed by the state before adequate state-level planning has occurred."
FOR added that its concerns surround ensuring data centers are appropriate for proposed sites, that the water use is kept as minimal as possible, and that there is sufficient power infrastructure to support them without causing environmental impact.
The meeting was motivated by Fredericksburg Mayor Kerry Devine requesting city staff to study the feasibility of establishing data centers in the county during a July 9 meeting, reports Potomac Local.
“Data centers are all around us at this point,” said Devine. “About 20 million sq ft is being planned in Stafford, Spotsy, Caroline, King George, all around us. Billions of dollars will be invested in those data centers in our region.”
Devine proposed Celebrate Virginia South as a potential data center site: "with further study from staff and recommendations, if it gets to where we develop a data center, that could significantly add to the city’s revenue and potentially lower the residential tax burden over time,” she said.
The council unanimously approved the proposed study, with city staff set to research and report back their findings.
Loudoun County planners recommend approval of 81-acre data center development
The Loudoun County Planning Commission has voted in favor of a data center development on land south of Leesburg, between Sycolin Road and the Dulles Greenway.
As reported by Loudoun Now, the proposal seeks to develop 2.1 million sq ft (195,096 sqm) of data center and utility substation space on an 81-acre parcel between Sycolin Road and Dulles Greenway.
To the northwest of the parcel lies a 323-acre Microsoft data center campus, and to the east a FedEx distribution facility and a planned data center campus by TA Realty.
The application, known as Greenlin Park and proposed by JK Land Holdings, is seeking to rezone the parcel from Transitional Residential-10 and Joint Land Management Area-20 to Industrial Park.
The land is owned by JK Land Holdings, who has agreed to a traffic study and to give $342,000 in cash to the county to construct a shared-use path and to improve Sycolin Road.
The application does not include a specific site plan as of yet, however, the buildings on the site will be limited to three stories. According to senior land use planner, Michael Romeo, the reason they are not including a specific plan is that no end-user has been selected.
While the planning commission has given the go-ahead for the rezoning, commissioners Robin-Eve Jasper and Madhava Reddy Madireddy noted concerns surrounding a lack of infrastructure available on the electric grid. Both voted to deny the application.
Charles Yudd of JK Land Holdings told the commission that the company is "evaluating very seriously the concepts of alternative energy sources,” like natural gas, battery storage, and small modular reactors, but for the time being will seek a grid connection.
Others noted that, with so many data centers in the area, the location is appropriate for the project. “There's not a thing of Sycolin Road that I would say is rural character left anymore. I mean, it's really an industrial look and industrial corridor," said commissioner Dale Polen Myers.
In February 2023, quarry company Luck Stone applied for a data center development along nearby Cochran Mill Road. That application would see 500,000 sq ft (46,450 sqm) of data center space built in the initial phase.
