Dear Friends:
This Tuesday, the Board of County Supervisors will be taking another significant step in the march to bring data centers out to our rural and historic areas. The Board will consider a vote to “initiate” the staff examination of an application to approve hundreds of acres of data centers along Pageland Lane which is located between Heritage Hunt and the Manassas National Battlefield Park. To be clear, this isn’t the ultimate vote to approve the project, but one more step toward its approval.
History has shown us, major changes rarely happen with just one big event. Politicians have learned to make major changes in more subtle ways in order to keep the residents from realizing how their lives will be impacted. Unfortunately, we are facing that very situation when it comes to our historic and rural areas right here in Prince William County.
Two years ago, most citizens in our County would have never dreamed that the Rural Crescent would be opened up to more densely populated neighborhoods, let alone to data centers. But both are happening, and certain politicians don’t want you to notice.
Picture of a data center currently being built in PWC
They frame the destruction of our historic and rural areas as “economic development” or being a “newly awakened county.” They claim that by trading our rural areas for data centers, they are “helping the citizens lower their tax burden.” When was the last time a politician used more tax revenue to lower your tax rate? The answer is it almost never happens. Politicians just use new found revenue for more and more programs, more grants to favored groups…all the while your tax bill goes up and your quality of life goes down.
Make no mistake, the policy shift to destroy our rural areas and opening it up for development is a strategic plan that requires many small steps…and it is well underway.
First, was to establish the practice of the majority of the Board ignoring the wishes of the citizens of a particular district and their Supervisor. Second was a vote to allow clusters of houses serviced by public sewer into the Rural Crescent. Third was a vote to study data centers in a “holistic way.” Fourth was a vote to study the sewer system across the county, and so on. All were smaller votes, but each one an important building block to those who want to build over our rural and historic areas.
While some politicians take actions that will destroy our rural and environmentally sensitive areas, they try to distract the residents by sending out press releases and Facebook posts about “protecting the environment” or “sustainability” or taking victory laps about a “new sustainability office within the County.” They promote these policy initiatives to distract their supporters from what is really happening to our environment. While they are showering the general public with platitudes about smart growth they are simultaneously being showered with financial donations from the very industries that stand to profit the most from these significant land use changes being enacted.
As many of you know, I live along Pageland Lane. I know almost all of the folks who are now saying they want to sell their property to the data centers and would consider many of them to be close friends. These are good families, many of which have been in Prince William County for generations.
I understand their concern that if the Board approves a couple of locations along Pageland, then their property value might significantly go down and they would be stuck looking at data centers out their back door. So, they have decided to back the data center plan, in the hope that they aren’t left out in the cold.
This is why I believe we must take a definitive stance and not allow any data centers into the Rural Crescent. Because once we do, we will have to be fair to other landowners and open it up to them also. It will be the ultimate slippery slope of losing our rural and historic areas.
The data center industry represents the largest corporations in the world. They will take every bit of land we allow them to grab. Land we had planned for retail, land for office buildings, and yes, land for homes and farms are all being repurposed for massive concrete energy hogs that have a definitive adverse impact on our environment. I don’t believe that clear cutting and grading our rural areas is how you enhance or protect the environment.
I’m asking for your help to stop the avalanche of data centers coming to our rural areas.
Although we have a vote on Tuesday, the final vote won’t be for several more months. You have time to plan, get your neighborhood involved, and contact your local, state, and federal elected officials. Ask your state and federal officials to get involved and help protect our environment and history.
If we don’t act, in just a few years from now, we will be looking around our rural landscape seeing trees coming down, dump trucks lining our roads, and traffic continuing to increase. All this while your taxes go up and up.
Please start the process by emailing your elected officials:
Prince William Board of County Supervisor: bocs@pwcgov.org
Find the contact information for your State Delegate, State Senator, Congressperson and US Senators: https://whosmy.virginiageneralassembly.gov
Representing you on the Board of County Supervisors has been one of the greatest honors of my life. You’ve got my word that I will continue to fight to protect your family and your quality of life.
Sincerely,
Pete Candland, Supervisor