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 unclear 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.
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Prince William Board of County Supervisors Chair, at-large Deshundra Jefferson, is on the mend after having had surgery for Crohn’s disease. This chronic inflammatory bowel condition has affected her health over the past two years.
Now two weeks post-surgery, Jefferson reports feeling “pretty good” and looks forward to resuming her duties full-time, including attending Zoom meetings and tackling a backlog of emails next week. Despite her temporary absence, Jefferson is grateful for her colleagues, especially Supervisor Boddye, who stepped up in her absence, as well as her staff, friends, and supportive 16-year-old son. “These things are kind of frightening until you actually go through them,” she shared, noting the relief of finally addressing symptoms that had worsened over the past few months.
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From the Prince William Chamber of Commerce:
It’s time to do what’s best for Prince William County and move forward with the Digital Gateway. Approved by the Board of County Supervisors in December 2023, the Digital Gateway’s implementation has been slowed due to legal proceedings meant to stop it despite years of discussion, debate, and public hearings that led to approval by the Board of County Supervisors.
Opponents are focused on burdening our legal system with proceedings to challenge the Digital Gateway’s approval even though the Prince William courts have already dismissed one case with prejudice because it lacks merit. Today, the Prince William County Board of Supervisors will ask the County Circuit Court to dismiss another lawsuit filed by a former State Senator that would halt the Digital Gateway Project.
The Chamber is sensitive to the issues that were raised during the years of debate on the Digital Gateway. However, those issues were addressed during the approval process and safeguards put in place to ensure the Digital Gateway meets the most stringent standards.
It is time now that we come together as a community to move forward and implement the vision of the Digital Gateway. We’ve seen in Loudoun County the tax benefits it has reaped because of data centers. From 2018 – 2022, they received about $2.3 billion in tax revenue according to a George Mason University analysis. That has meant more revenue for its schools as well as less reliance on residential taxes.
Imagine what that tax revenue would do for Prince William County to fund its priorities such as schools, parks and affordable housing initiatives as well as relief to homeowners’ taxes. These are important priorities for the Chamber and all of us.
It is time to stop the legal delays and move forward with the Digital Gateway for the benefit of the community.
A proposal to build three new Amazon data centers along Ashton Avenue near the Manassas Mall was shelved indefinitely ahead of the Oct. 22 Prince William Board of County Supervisors meeting during which it was scheduled to be discussed.
As construction continues on an Amazon Web Services data center on Technology Boulevard in Manassas, local businesses are raising concerns about the project's impacts on their operations. Among the most vocal is Mike Post, owner of Baker-Post Funeral Home, a 130-year staple of Manassas.
The server farm will be one of four in Manassas and will have three buildings. Post says that the construction has caused significant issues for his business. “The blasting has caused our sprinkler standpipe to shift in the ground, and a truck damaged our portico. It has cost me $2,900 in repairs,” he said. “There have been instances where the blasting has disrupted funeral [ceremonies]. During a funeral, a minister was giving a eulogy, and without any warning, they let off a giant explosion. Then, the fire alarm went off right after the blast and sounded throughout the funeral.”
Despite these challenges, Post says that the city has been largely indifferent to the struggles of existing businesses in the area. “It seems like the new city leadership is letting the data centers walk all over us,” he noted. “The old leadership would never have allowed this to happen. They understood the importance of protecting local businesses while managing growth.”
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The Stafford County Board of Supervisors unanimously voted 6-1 on Tuesday evening to approve a zoning reclassification for developing the Stafford Technology Campus, a project poised to reshape over 500 acres of land in the county’s Falmouth District. The decision reclassifies the lane from an A-1 Agricultural Zoning District to an M-2 Heavy Industrial Zoning District, clearing the way for one of the country's most significant developments. Rock Hill District Supervisor Crystal Vanuch voted against the rezoning.
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Prince William County is navigating challenges as it seeks to balance the growing demand for data centers with its aspirations for technological innovation and education, particularly around the George Mason University SciTech Campus.
This dynamic was discussed at the Prince William Board of County Supervisors meeting on September 10, when leaders and stakeholders expressed concerns over how the expansion of data centers could impact the county's economic growth potential, particularly at the college's Innovation District, outside Manassas.
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The Stafford County Board of Supervisors voted on Tuesday, Aug. 20, 2o24, to delay a decision on the proposed Stafford Technology Park, a sprawling data center complex, until September 17, 2024. The deferral follows extensive discussions about the project’s potential impact on the county’s water resources and infrastructure.
The Stafford Technology Park, planned for over 500 acres in the Falmouth District, would transform undeveloped land into a significant data center hub. The proposed development includes 23 buildings, with a total floor area of 5.8 million square feet, and would require substantial infrastructure upgrades, including new road extensions and up to six electric substations.
Concerns Over Water Usage