Lawson, a Republican who represents a portion of western Prince William County, visited polling places in the east on Election Day, Tuesday, November 8, to encourage residents to contact their respective supervisors to oppose the digital gateway project, which plans 27 million sure feet of new server farms next Civil War battlefield.
Four Democrats representing residents in the east and At-large Board Chair Ann Wheeler voted to amend the land use plan clearing the way for more data center construction.
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Prince William County Supervisors voted to amend its comprehensive plan to allow up to 27 million square feet of data centers to be built next to Manassas National Battlefield Park.
It’s the largest, most transformative land-use case in county history.
The vote on the project, the Prince William Digital Gateway, came just before 9 a.m., following a marathon meeting lasting 14 hours and 20 minutes. The party-line vote saw five Democrats voting in favor, two Republicans opposed, and one Republican, Peter Candland, abstained.
Candland lives where data centers may be built and did not attend the meeting.
The vote clears the way to allow Prince William County to rival neighboring Loudoun County, which, today, has more data centers than anywhere else on the globe. Under the Prince William Digital Gateway Plan, 1.300 acres of land next to the national park would be used for data centers, 800 acres would be reserved for parks, and 10 acres would be used to mark historic sites.
Since the battlefield park is hallowed ground and the site of two major Civil War battles, there is a strong possibility that developers will find human remains buried on the site. Developers must conduct land surveys when submitting a rezoning application for new data centers.
The project will add to many data centers already in the area or are now under construction. The project’s supporters say the centers will generate more cash for government services like police, fire and rescue, and local schools.
Opponents say data centers will ruin the rural landscape next to the battlefield, and that cooling fans atop the 45-foot-tall buildings will produce unwanted noise. That stormwater runoff from the new facilities will pollute the Occoquan Reservoir, which provides drinking water to 1.5 million in Prince William and Fairfax counties.
The Prince William Digital Gateway comprehensive plan amendment was the only item on the Board of County Supervisors’ agenda. The meeting began at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, November 1, and ended at 9:50 a.m. Wednesday, November 2.
The Digital Gateway is the largest land-use case in county history. Brentsville District Supervisor Jeanine Lawson, who voted against the project, said it was the most significant case since Disney’s failed proposal to build a theme park in Haymarket in 1993 called Disney’s America.
Stay with us. This story is developing.
While future skirmishes loom in the form of rezonings, arguably the biggest land-use decision in Prince William County’s history is expected to be made Tuesday, Nov. 1.
That’s when the Board of County Supervisors will hold a public hearing and plans to vote on the proposed PW Digital Gateway. The hearing is on the request from dozens of landowners to designate 2,139 acres in western Prince William County for data centers. Specifically, it is to change the land currently designated as agricultural/estate and environmental resource in the Comprehensive Plan to technology/flex, parks and open space, county registered historic site and environmental resource overlay.
(Prince William Times / Metered Paywall) — Prince William County’s draft plan for the Prince William Digital Gateway envisions a 2,100-acre data center corridor next to the Manassas National Battlefield Park and Conway Memorial State Forest that would allow up to 27.6 million square feet of data center space – likely spread across dozens of buildings – while also dedicating about 800 acres to new parks and trails, protecting historic assets and mitigating harmful impacts on wildlife and the Occoquan Reservoir.
The Prince William County Planning Commission will hold a public hearing on the controversial Prince William Digital Gateway project.
The project aims to convert open space next to the Manassas National Battlefield into data centers. Three applicants have filed rezoning applications for the area, which would rezone more than 800 acres from agricultural and estate land to an area zoned for technology/flex space.
Data centers are server farms that power the internet, typically two-to-three-story warehouse-type buildings. In recent years, data center firms like Amazon, QTS, and Iron Mountain have built server farms outside Manassas, Haymarket, and Gainesville due to cheaper land costs, access to fiber data lines, and water.
Since June 2021, land planners at the Prince William County Government have been evaluating the proposed Digital Gateway Project, which would convert 27 estates on Pageland lane to land on which data centers may be built.
Many property owners, including the Gainesville District Supervisor Peter Candland, banned together to sell their property to data center firms. Supporters of the project say the new centers will generate millions in tax revenue for county government coffers, build new schools, and hire new police officers and fire and rescue personnel.
The project’s detractors say the buildings are too close to Manassas National Battlefield, the site of two of the first skirmishes of the Civil War. They also say the paving over the landscape will negatively affect the region’s groundwater and that noise emitted from the machinery on the top of the centers will make for unbearable living conditions for those with nearby homes.
The public hearing will begin at 7 p.m. during the Planning Commission meeting at the McCoart Building, 1 County Complex Court in Woodbridge.
Beginning on August 25, Manassas National Battlefield Park will observe the 160th anniversary of the Battle of Second Manassas. For five days, through August 30, events will remember the cost of battle and include the destructive impact on area families and African Americans.
A few highlighted events include:
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By Tom Coyle
Bristow
It seems clear to us that, as a group, our local elected leaders in Prince William County appear to be struggling to make decisions regarding the long-term strategic use of a scarce resource — our land.
Such land use decisions are critical to ensuring our county will be one that continues to attract new residents and new businesses and retains the current attributes that attracted current residents to move here.
The single issue of large data centers in proximity to residences is a complex one that crosses into hotly debated topics such as taxable revenue, open space and zoning use, and increased pressure to balance green space use and residential growth.
Although the various zoning laws, layover grids, etc., can be confusing and even contradictory, what’s clear is that no one, either elected or County Staff, seems to have heard of Moore’s Law. And if they have, they have failed to take it into account as it applies to these large buildings now popping up throughout our county, large parts of which are rural or semi-rural.
Moore’s Law is the observation that the number of transistors in a dense integrated circuit (IC) doubles about every two years. Moore’s Law is an observation and projection of a historical trend. Rather than a law of physics, it is an empirical relationship linked to gains from experience in production.
It is understood the interior of these centers consists mainly of computer servers and racks, which, if we apply Moore’s Law, will shrink in size and thus need less space to operate. What happens in 10 or 20 years when the requirement for these 500,000 square foot buildings is no more? What incentive can our county offer a private company to continue to occupy a space that is not needed in order to operate and make a profit?
Why would they wish to occupy a 500,000 sqaure-foot space when, due to said law, they would only need a quarter or less of that space? Who do the citizens then turn to to raze the building and restore the area to its original nature?
All the extra tax monies from these centers will not make up for the permanent scarring of our county. Why can’t we analyze best practices from other municipalities around the country and then apply the best of those to use as a framework?
Has any elected official, or county staff, examined the second and third-order effects of approving the construction of these buildings and thus degrading one significant reason citizens move to Pricne William – high quality of life
We implore our county-elected leaders to slow down and demand a thoughtful, factual review of these proposals from staff. If we don’t have the expertise in-house, then hire a well-respected national company to conduct it.
There is no rush to carefully consider all aspects of this issue, given the lasting impact it will have for years to come. Perceived short-term gains (more money in our county coffers) we believe defines false economy and reminds us of the family cat being happily distracted by that new shiny object right in front of her to the exclusion of anything else.
We hope the elected leaders in Prince William County will reflect for a moment on why they ran for office in the first place: to help enrich the lives of the citizens they serve by thoughtful and informed decisions affecting all of us for generations to come.
A recent report in Loudoun Now states Dominion and Loudoun County officials are working to solve an issue that has led to the power transmission problems.
According to Dominion Energy spokesman Aaron Ruby, the problem in Loudoun affects a small portion, Ashburn, hindered by a lack of transmission infrastructure to power new data centers. Loudoun officials say they are concerned that the issue may stall the development of new power-hungry data centers and server farms that power the internet.
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The recall press conference for Prince William Board of County Supervisors Chair At-large Ann Wheeler will occur at 6:30 p.m. at the McCoart Government Administration Building, at 1 County Complex in Woodbridge, before the start of the Board's 7:30 p.m. meeting.
Wheeler is accused of using her position of power for financial gain when purchasing stocks in tech and data center firms looking to expand in the county. Data centers, or server farms that power the internet, have taken an interest in the county under Wheeler's leadership due to its relaxed policies, lower land cost, and access to fiber lines.
