However, as we reported Monday, April 17, a Prince William County school said the school was double booked with the town hall meeting and a back-to-school night for parents of rising 6th-grade students.
The school had inadvertently double-booked the schedule (human error). The organization is looking to find another location to host the meeting and that information will be shared once confirmed.
— Prince William County Public Schools spokeswoman Diana Gulotta statement to PLN
Residents opposed to more data centers had planned a demonstration outside the school before the event began.
In a statement to PLN following our story about the cancelation, QTS spokesman Nick DeSarno said it’s working to reschedule the event, that the firm had the event on the books since late last month, and only learned of the back-to-school night on the day before its scheduled event.
“QTS Data Centers was today notified by Bull Run Middle School that a conflicting event at the school would necessitate the cancelation of QTS’ open house despite school officials last week confirming the QTS event. As a result, QTS is working to reschedule the event to provide the Prince William community with important information about the PW Digital Gateway project and its many benefits to the county,” said DeSarno.
The April 18 QTS Open House event had been planned since late March. Throughout the planning process, QTS Data Centers (QTS) was never notified of another event scheduled for the same day or anything that may disrupt QTS’ Open House event. The following timeline lays out the planning of the event, coordination with Bull Run Middle School staff, and the subsequent cancellation of the event.
- March 30, 2023: On March 30, QTS submitted a request to hold the event via the school’s automated scheduling system, Community Use.
- April 3, 2023: On April 3, QTS received confirmation the event had been approved. Following confirmation, QTS coordinated with Bull Run Middle School staff to arrange a tour of the school and specifics of the event.
- April 13, 2023: On April 13, QTS toured the school and confirmed the logistics of the event with school staff.
- April 17, 2023: The morning of April 17, QTS received a notification from the Community Use scheduling system that the event had been canceled. That same day, the school calendar was updated with the event entitled, “Rising 6th?Grade Information Night,” scheduled for Tuesday, April 18.
The data proposed data center would sit on some of the more than 800 acres earmarked by the Prince William Board of County Supervisors, approved last year, for Prince William Digital Gateway.
Residents opposed to more data centers in Prince William County, on track to eclipse neighboring Loudoun County for the most in the world, were planning a press conference to oppose the project “The attitude of Prince William County residents, and our message to QTS, is simple and concise: go away. We are not buying their insincere overtures to placate us while they concurrently plot to destroy us,” they noted in a press release.
QTS already operates at least one data center in Prince William County, next to the George Mason University Science and Technology Campus near Manassas.
In November 2022, the Prince William Board of County Supervisors amended its comprehensive plan to allow 27 million square feet of data center space next to the national battlefield park, the site of two major Civil War battles, a national tourism destination.
The principal at Bull Run Middle School near Gainesville, the site of an open house for a proposed data center next to Manassas National Park tomorrow, April 18, 2023, canceled the event. We first reported the event on Saturday, April 15, 2023.
Instead, the school will host an open house for parents of rising sixth-grade students. “I am not sure of the mix-up, but it is corrected,” states school principal Matthew Phythian in an email.
The data center would sit on some of the more than 800 acres earmarked by the Prince William Board of County Supervisors, approved last year, for Prince William Digital Gateway.
Residents opposed to more data centers in Prince William County, on track to eclipse neighboring Loudoun County for the most in the world, were planning a press conference to oppose the project “The attitude of Prince William County residents, and our message to QTS, is simple and concise: go away. We are not buying their insincere overtures to placate us while they concurrently plot to destroy us,” they noted in a press release.
QTS already operates at least one data center in Prince William County, next to the George Mason University Science and Technology Campus near Manassas.
In November 2022, the Prince William Board of County Supervisors amended its comprehensive plan to allow 27 million square feet of data center space next to the national battlefield park, the site of two major Civil War battles, a national tourism destination.
The data center would sit on some of the more than 800 acres earmarked by the Prince William Board of County Supervisors, approved last year, for Prince William Digital Gateway.
The meeting will begin at 6 p.m. Tuesday, April 18, at Bull Run Middle School, 6308 Catharpin Road, near Gainesville.
QTS already operates at least one data center in Prince William County, next to the George Mason University Science and Technology Campus near Manassas.
Prince William County residents asked the U.S. Department of Interior to step in to block the Board of County Supervisors from approving its 2040 comprehensive land-use plan.
The vote is tomorrow, Tuesday, December 13, at 7:30 p.m.
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A judge tossed a lawsuit against Prince William County Supervisor Peter Candland, representing the Gainesville District.
On November 10, U.S. Eastern District Court Judge Michael S. Nachmanoff granted the motion to dismiss a lawsuit against Candland. With the dismissal, the judge gave Plaintiff 15 days to file an amended complaint to address the issues brought up by the motion to dismiss. Plaintiff failed to meet the deadline. Thus the lawsuit remains dismissed, according to a press release from Candland.
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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.
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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.
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Police and local government officials are preparing for one of the most anticipated public meetings in recent years, as the Board of County Supervisors will decide to allow data centers on 2,100 acres next to Manassas National Battlefield.
It's the largest land-use case in county history, larger than 150 Walmart Supercenters, and 15 times larger than the area of Potomac Mills mall. It's also proven to be one of the most contentious, as the meeting will begin at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, November 1, and will last into the early morning hours of the following day.
The county posted the map above of its government center at 1 County Complex Court off Prince William Parkway in Woodbridge to show visitors where to find parking and handicapped parking. Handicapped parking and a limited number of public parking spaces will be available in front of the McCoart Building, where Supervisors meet.
Most attendees will need to park at lots on the east side and on the backside of the McCoart Building, including Pfitzner Stadium, the former home of the Fredericksburg Nationals baseball team.
The county also anticipates multiple news crews on-site during the meeting, and the map shows where they should park. Government officials prohibited tents on the property.
The doors to the McCoart building will open at 5:30 p.m. Police will close the doors when the building reaches its 440-person occupancy.
Residents who want to address the Board of County Supervisors may sign their names to a speaker sheet at 5:30 p.m., two hours before the meeting start. Visitors will find the sheets in the atrium at the McCoart Building.
After making their comments, speakers are encouraged to leave the building to make room for new speakers. Â Residents who want to speak from home may use this link until 5 p.m. Monday, October 31, to sign up to speak virtually.
The county government is petitioning the Board of County Supervisors to amend its comprehensive plan and rezone the land from rural to industrial, clearing the way for the Prince William Digital Gateway.
Supporters say the data center (server farms that power the internet) will bring more tax revenue for schools and other local government services. Opponents urge Supervisors to delay the decision on the project, saying clear-cutting so much land in a rural area will lead to more stormwater and pollutants flowing into the Occoquan Reservoir, the drinking water source for 1.5 million people in Fairfax and Prince William counties.
The Fairfax Board of County Supervisors urged Prince William officials to tap the brakes on the plan and study the existing pollutants in the reservoir and how to mitigate future pollutants from data center development in western Prince William.
Planning Ahead: November 1, 2022, Board of County Supervisors Meeting
What time will the meeting begin? The November 1, 2022, Board meeting will begin at 7:30 p.m. The public hearing on #CPA2021-00004, PW Digital Gateway Plan, is the only item on the agenda. pic.twitter.com/4GsNNZAznF -- Prince William County (@pwcgov) October 27, 2022
