Updated 2 p.m. — Prince William County Brentsville District Supervisor Jeanine Lawson will hold a rally to urge leaders to defer a decision on a massive data center development plan.
Lawson and conversationalist groups will rally at Lake Ridge Marina on the Occoquan Reservoir, 12350 Cotton Mill Drive, to urge Supervisors to delay a decision on the controversial Prince William Digital Gateway.
Coles District Supervisor Yesli Vega (R) was also going to attend but decided otherwise after multiple non-profits participating in the rally voiced concerns about the possibility of the event turning into a political rally. Vega is seeking Virginia’s 7th Congressional seat on November 8.
According to a spokeswoman in Lawson’s office, the groups were concerned about jeopardizing their non-profit tax status should the event be viewed as political and threatened to pull out if Vega attended. The spokeswoman said it had nothing to do with Vega’s political views.
Developers seek to rezone more than 2,100 acres of land next to the Manassas National Battlefield, an area about 15 times larger than Potomac Mill mall in Woodbridge, to construct new server farms that power the internet.
Supervisors are set to hear the case at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, November 1. The meeting is expected to draw hundreds and last in the early hours of the following morning, Wednesday, November 2.
After more than a year of evaluation, protests, and recall-election petitions for Board of County Chair At-large Ann Wheeler and Gainesville District Supervisor Peter Candland, residents who stand to benefit financially if the project is approved, opponents say. Wheeler failed to publicly disclose she owned stock in one of the firms seeking to rezone, while Candland and his neighbors agreed to sell his home to data center developers if the project is approved.
The project’s supporters say the data centers are the types of businesses the county needs to diversify its tax base to take the burden of funding the county government and its local schools (the county’s largest employer) off the backs of those who pay Real Estate property taxes.
The project’s opponents argue the data centers affect the water quality in the region, as land will be paved. Still, more impervious surfaces will be created, sending more sediment into the Occoquan Reservoir, which accounts for about 60% of the county’s drinking water supply.
They also say data centers as tall as 50 feet will disturb the views at the Manassas National Battlefield, hallowed ground, the site of one of the first battles in the U.S. Civil War.
Here’s more about Friday’s upcoming press conference:
Growing concern for compromised water quality has energized environmental/ conservation groups and citizens alike from around Prince William County and the Northern Virginia region. Together, they have sought to secure proper water studies that would determine the effects of large-scale industrial development proposed in western PWC at the headwaters of the Occoquan Watershed and Reservoir.
On Friday, October 28, 2022, Supervisors Jeanine Lawson (Brentsville)
and Yesli Vega (Coles)will host a press conference to once again call on the PW Board of County Supervisors to postpone a vote on the Prince William Digital Gateway until all relevant environmental studies have been completed. The Supervisors will be joined by advocates from Prince William Conservation Alliance, Coalition to Protect PWC, Sierra Club, & Piedmont Environmental Council. Experts from within Prince William and Fairfax Counties warned water run-off from a massive industrial corridor could have a serious negative impact on the regional water supply, one that serves residents of Eastern Prince William County, City of Alexandria, Ft. Belvoir, and portions of Fairfax County.
The Prince William County Planning Commission recommended approval of the Prince William Digital Gateway project, with four members voting yes, three no, and one abstention.
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