The proposed Bristow Campus data center project, slated for consideration by the Prince William Board of County Supervisors on November 19, 2024, has been deferred.
Gainesville District Supervisor Bob Weir noted that the applicant may have anticipated a lack of support for the project. “I think they know they don’t have the votes,” said Weir. It’s nuclear when supervisors may take up the case.
The Bristow Campus development, led by Stack Infrastructure, aims to rezone agricultural land near Nokesville Road and Broad Run Creek into a Planned Business District. This rezoning would permit two high-rise office buildings and light industrial structures up to 75 feet tall.
The proposed site plan includes a 50-foot buffer to protect critical areas, 25 acres of preserved open space, and nearly 14 acres dedicated to parks and recreation. A trail along Broad Run Linear Park is also planned.
Community leaders and residents have expressed growing concern over the increasing presence of data centers in Prince William County. Kathy Kulick, Vice Chair of the HOA Round Table of Northern Virginia, highlighted the potential impacts of data centers on residential communities.
“We’re essentially a discussion and information exchange forum for residential community leaders,” said Kulick, explaining her organization’s role in helping local communities understand development projects. Data centers, according to Kulick, often bring noise, environmental concerns, and infrastructure strain. “Data center noise is real… residents don’t really realize what’s going on until one night they can’t sleep,” she said, adding that diesel generators and air quality impacts are additional concerns.
Kulick also noted that this development falls outside the Prince William County Data Center Overlay District, a designated area approved in 2017 to provide infrastructure suited for data centers. The Overlay District aims to ensure new data centers have access to adequate water and power, yet, as Kulick pointed out, “This Bristow Campus… is located outside of that area.” This deviation has raised questions about whether the county’s infrastructure can support the energy demands of the data center, prompting discussions around alternative energy sources, including small modular nuclear reactors.
The Bristow Campus project mirrors other controversial data center developments in Prince William County, including the recently approved Devlin Technology Park. This project, backed by Stanley Martin Homes, has faced ongoing legal challenges from residents of the Bristow area, who formed the group Defend Devlin. These residents, represented by attorney Donna Gallant, are appealing a previous court dismissal of their case, hoping to prevent data centers from being constructed near Chris Yung Elementary School and several neighborhoods.
If approved, Bristow Campus would be part of a larger trend bringing data centers to residential areas, despite objections. Prince William County residents, particularly in the western region, are facing the possibility of high-rise data centers encroaching on neighborhoods, schools, and parks, potentially altering the character of these communities.
The HOA Round Table of Northern Virginia is working to alert residents across multiple counties, including Loudoun, Fairfax, and Fauquier, about potential developments. In addition to noise and environmental concerns, Kulick raised the issue of rising utility costs for residents, as extensive infrastructure upgrades would be necessary to support the Bristow Campus and similar developments.
Bristow residents may soon have another massive data center campus as their new neighbor.
Despite community objections over environmental and infrastructure concerns, the Prince William County Planning Commission has approved a plan to rezone 58 acres in Bristow for a large-scale data center campus. The project, known as Bristow Campus, is slated to move forward to the Prince William Board of County Supervisors, who will make a final decision on November 19, 2024.
- As proposed, the Bristow Campus data center project involves the construction of two three-story data center buildings, each spanning 450,000 square feet, totaling 900,000 square feet of data center space.
- Additionally, the development includes a substation to support the facility's power requirements.
The proposed development, led by Stack Infrastructure, would rezone agricultural land to a Planned Business District to construct two high-rise office buildings up to 75 feet tall and light industrial structures on Nokesville Road near Broad Run Creek. With site improvements, including a 50-foot perimeter buffer along critical areas, the applicant has committed to preserving 25 acres of open space and dedicating almost 14 acres to the county for parks and recreation, adding a potential trail connection along Broad Run Linear Park.
