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. 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
In three days, elected county leaders will make the most significant land use decision in county history as it weighs the Prince William Digital Gateway.
Opponents of the massive data center project, the county’s most significant land-use case in history, gathered today to urge the Board of County Supervisors to delay its decision expected in the early hours of Wednesday morning, November 2.
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, they said.
They’re urging a comprehensive study of the sediments and salt in the water and looking at how the proposed server farms would add to that pollution. Opponents say they support data center construction inside an area called the data center overlay district the Board of County Supervisors established in 2021. The proposed project falls outside of the overlay.
Brentsville District Supervisor Jeanine Lawson led the press conference at Lake Ridge Marina on the reservoir banks. She said that, hopefully, a few of the five Democrats on the Board of County change their minds before the vote.
“I can’t imagine in my most expansive dreams that they can diver such a disastrous plan that so many organizations have opposed. They’re not focusing on the right priorities,” Lawson told Potomac Local News. “The Board members who think this is a great [plan. Maybe they need to pay closer attention to what’s happening in their districts.”
With elections for all eight Board of County Supervisors coming next year, Lawson suggested the Digital Gateway be an election issue in 2023. “Let’s run on it next year when more poeple are paying attention,” said Lawson.
On behalf of data center developers, the Prince William County Government seeks to amend the county’s comprehensive plan and rezone 2,100 acres next to Manassas National Battlefield to build data centers — server farms that power the internet.
Prince William Conservation Alliance, the National Parks Conservation Association, Coalition for Smarter Growth, with 12 other non-profits have rallied against the project.
“Repeated requests by Supervisor Lawson and County residents to delay the vote until a water study can be conducted have been ignored. Have a slice of cake, they say,” said Prince Wiliam County Coles District Supervisor Yesli Vega. “While Supervisor Lawson and I are Republicans, it’s safe to say that we have been more environmentally sensitive and cognizant to the impacts of land use decisions on our local environment and the health and safety of our residents than our counterparts.”
The area on which the Prince William Digital Gateway would sit is about the size of 150 Walmart Supercenter stores and 15 times the size of Potomac Mills mall. The project would make Prince William County the world’s leader in data center space, eclipsing neighboring Loudoun County, which has held the title of Internet Capital since the 1990s.
Since the reservoir serves Prince William and Fairfax counties, officials across the Occoquan River are also weighing in. Fairfax Board of Supervisors Chairman At-large called calls from his colleague Springfield District Supervisor Pat Herrity to delay the project and conduct the water study “politically motivated.”
“Local government used to be about common sense, not but politics has worked its way into local government,” Herrity told Potomac Local News. This a common sense decision. This reservoir supplies a drinking supply for 1.5 million residents. Take the time to do the study.”
The Prince William Board of County Supervisors meets at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, November 1, to hear the case. Public testimony is expected last well into the overnight hours.
The county Planning Commission heard the case last month and voted to approve in a 4:3:1 vote, with one member abstaining. The vote came after 4:30 a.m., following a marathon public comment session.
The study, to be overseen by the Northern Virginia Regional Commission, will examine and detail what sediments are flowing into the Occoquan Reservoir, one of the largest drinking water sources in Prince William County. Two-thirds of all stormwater runoff in the county end up in the reservoir.
The study comes as residents have voiced concerns that the continued development of the county's rural areas with new data center campuses would produce more sediment, nitrogen, and phosphorus that can pollute the reservoir.
