Joint data center meeting planned in Stafford County

Data center developers are turning their attention to Stafford County.

Now county leaders have called a joint session of the Board of Supervisors and the Planning Commission to discuss server farms that power the internet and where in the county they could be built.

The Stafford County Government announced the meeting on Tuesday, February 28, 2023:

A Joint Board of Supervisors and Planning Commission Meeting to discuss Data Centers will be held on Wednesday, March 29, 2023, at 6:00 p.m. at the Courthouse Community Center, 29 Stafford Avenue, Stafford, VA 22554.

When a developer seeks to rezone land or apply for a conditional use permit, they must submit their plans to the planning commission for review. After it weighs in, Supervisors get the final say.

We reported information from our sources that data center developers aim to build four server farms in various spots in Stafford County. To date, no building permits or rezoning applications have been filed.

Over the past two years, Prince William County has been embroiled in a debate over where data centers should be built. County supervisors have amended the county’s comprehensive plan to allow more than 27 million square feet of data center space next to the Manassas National Battlefield.

If built, Prince William County will be the heart of “data center alley,” taking the crown from neighboring Loudoun County. About 70% of the world’s internet traffic flows through data centers in Northern Virginia.

Prince William County residents who opposed the expansion are concerned the centers — many of them 100 feet tall, 250,000 square-foot buildings or larger — have cooling fans that produce too much noise, use too much water to cool the servers, and use large amounts of energy the state now says localities in Northern Virginia may not be able to supply in the summer months.

Residents who live next to an Amazon server farm outside Manassas said they had been victims of noise pollution since the data center opened. Following a protest by residents, Amazon told PLN it would install sound walls to reduce noise.

Leaders have also approved data centers next to residential neighborhoods and schools, ignoring a planning tool developed by the county staff in 2017 called the data center overlay district — land identified as open space, with ample access to electricity to power the servers and water to cool them.

On February 21, Democrats crossed party lines to vote with Republicans to elect Gainesville District Supervisor Bob Weir during a Special Election. Wier promised to push back against Democrats on the Board of County Supervisors who have pushed to build more data centers.

On Monday, February 13, 2023, several Stafford County leaders and staffers visited data centers in Prince William County and toured the facilities.

A county spokesman emailed PLN:

The list is below, and they attended the tour on Monday. The purpose was to provide opportunities to educate our Board and staff. In the event that any data center were to seek out Stafford County as a potential site, the Board and staff did recognize the need to make more opportunities to educate and inform the ccounty as a proactive measure.

Attendees:

1. Supervisor Dr. Pamela Yeung, Chairman
2. Supervisor Thomas Coen, Vice Chairman
3. Chris Edwards, Utilities
4. Michael Keys, Commissioner of Revenue’s Office
5. Clayton Stevenson, Commissioner of Revenue’s Office
6. Megan Hesse, Commissioner of Revenue’s Office
7. Josh Summits, Department of Economic Development