By E. Bruce Davis
November 26, 2021
Four local speakers shared their knowledge and perspectives about Proposed Data Centers with about 80 residents of the Heritage Hunt community, at a Nov. 4 Town Hall at the clubhouse. Other residents observed virtually.
The program has been rebroadcast several times, according to Roger Yackel, a member of the Heritage Hunt Strategic Advisory Committee, led the meeting.
The speakers included:
– Kyle Hart of the National Park Conservation Association
– Kim Hosen, executive director of the Prince William Conservation Alliance (PWCA)
– Elena Schlossberg, executive director of The Coalition to Protect Prince William County
– Bob Weir, a member of the Haymarket Town Council
Hart’s organization is interested in the proposed data centers because their proximity might impact Manassas National Battlefield Park
NPCA’s interest is about 2,000 acres at the “Battlefield gate,” as well as adjacent battle-site properties “slated for massive industrial data centers,” specified Hart.
He said, “NPCA is the only nationally-based organization dedicated to advocacy on behalf of our National Parks. Created in 1919, NPCA has 1.6 million members and supporters” and its mission is “protecting and enhancing America’s National Park System for present and future generations.”
The 5,000-acre Manassas National Battlefield Park hosts about 550,000 annual visitors and provides wildlife habitat, protects local water quality and provides trails.
Hosen, a leading local conservationist and a former member of the Prince William County Planning Commission, told the group that “Prince William is the only locality in the entire Chesapeake Bay watershed that spans from tidal wetlands to a mountain.”
“This means,” she explained, “we have diversity of natural resources that create a sense of place that is special to PWC, and we should recognize and protect our assets and take advantage of that for the betterment of all of us.”
“The Rural Crescent (RC) is special and unique from a land use perspective.” Her survey charts showed that preserving rural areas/forests was the top priority.
She said all PWCA educational forums about the Rural Crescent are heavily attended.
About 2,000 acres of the RC might be designated for data centers and industrial uses.
Hosen predicted, “We would lose farms, farm markets, and other agri-businesses. Our scenic countryside would be at risk with more than 40 miles of Virginia Scenic Byways. We would lose housing diversity, and biggest of all, this is the reason we have a Rural Crescent. It would mean that we would have to take our infrastructure dollars to build new schools, roads, etc. out in the countryside instead of in watershed areas that really have lagged behind and need that investment very much.”
According to Hosen, the RC protects green, open spaces, which flow into the Occoquan Reservoir, the source of area drinking water.
She said, Prince William County, on the south side of the Occoquan Reservoir, has housing development and 70 acres of parkland. Fairfax, to its north, has 5,000 acres of open buffer as public parkland and 41,000 acres of protection.
She said data centers, other commercial structures and parking lots would increase water runoff and flooding.
An additional 2,200 acres for data center development in the Digital Gateway Comprehensive Plan Amendment (CPA) hear the Heritage Hunt community and another adjacent 1,000 acres would decrease groundwater and increase runoff. The Data Center Overlay District, a large data center development area adjacent to Manassas National Battlefield Park, includes much acreage for data centers and warehouses/distribution centers.
Hosen added if other areas are used for data centers, the county would probably need to build the (previously scrapped) Bi-County Parkway that would certainly affects the quality of life of your community here.”
Weir, who also served on the Planning Commission and many county and school division budget committees, displayed charts which he said show PWC charges the lowest tax rate on Computers and Peripherals in Northern Virginia counties by two thirds.
According to Weir, the Board of County Supervisors (BOCS) has refused to increase the rate for a decade. He said, “In order for PWC to keep its level of revenue from its current data centers and the amounts that are arising, one of two things must happen:
“Either data centers have to refresh their network gear at a relatively rapid rate, or….keep adding data centers, because of the depreciation of equipment over a five year span. Every year [a] data center ages, your revenues from the data center decreases.”
He added that this year, neighboring Loudoun County experienced a $60 million shortfall in data center revenue.
Wile the Prince William BOCS majority position is that more data centers would reduce residents’ tax burden, Weir’s graphs showed despite rising existing data center tax revenues, PWC’s real estate taxes continued to rise.
He indicated the BOCS, the Planning Office and Economic Development are modeling Loudoun County, which is more strategically located for data centers than PWC.
According to Weir, Loudoun has 25 million sq. ft. of data centers, with five million more approved. PWC has five million sq. ft. of data centers, with another 38.1 million approved since Dec. 2019, more than Loudoun County.
According to Weir, “The question you should be asking the BOCS, particularly Economic Development, is how they can reasonably assume the regional data centers growth is going to actually use up 3812 million sq. ft. of data centers. I suggest the County is selling you a bill of goods.”
He said there is no coordination, citing a rewrite of the Data Center Overlay District, the PWC Digital Gateway (an 800-acre data center development area near the Manassas National Battlefield Park), an additional 2,200 acres and “a bunch of sneaky applications going into the Land Use Chapter Review.”
Weir believes the County Planning Office, acted in an unprecedented way, allowing individual landowners to make “comprehensive plan amendments” and submit them to County planners for incorporation into the Long-Range Land Use Chapter.
He said there is neither review, public scrutiny nor public comment.
Weir said, “They are acted upon solely by the Planning staff and ultimately the Board,” suggesting this could add more County acreage to be zoned for data centers, potentially doubling the data center square footage available.
He claimed a couple landowners will benefit greatly, while “the rest, including Heritage Hunt residents, will be looking at data centers across the street from their homes. The County refuses to address this problem. No supervision. It’s time residents made them aware of what’s going on.”
He said within a few years, this expansion will cause a budget deficit as data centers become obsolete.
If data center structures are built with the required pavement, Weir believes the stage is set for PWC to be the “Rust Belt” of the 2040s, leaving many vacant buildings with no optional use.
Elena Schlossberg said she and her husband moved to Haymarket 20 years ago.
She developed a relationship with Heritage Hunt and land-use issues with the Gainesville Sector Plan, because, she said, [she] cares about the HH, where she lives, PWC and the state.
She displayed a map of what she predicted would become “An Industrial Corridor,” expanding from 800 to 2,200 acres, next to where nobody would want to live.
This applicant’s map for the Comprehensive Plan Amendment, included the Bi-County Parkway, which she said, “Is the outer beltway. We are looking at an existential change of the entire Western PWC.”
Schlossberg referred to a four-year successful Amazon Data Center battle that included thousands of volunteer hours, much money and an attorney, to avoid above-ground powerlines throughout several area routes.
“The Coalition was set on insuring we wouldn’t be back here….for data centers, everywhere and anywhere, because al lit did was hurt the community. So, what we did was advocate for an overlay district, 10,000 acres that was just approved in 2016.”
She believes speculators are looking elsewhere for data centers where property is less expensive.
She said, “When the community stands together, anything is possible.” She is amazed when County leadership refers to the importance of the environment, clear water and air, saying, “Because what are we sustaining if we lose our watersheds…destroy our open spaces and our mature trees? What are we sacrificing for the integrity of our Battlefield and our national parks?”
She said she is not against data centers and development, but said sustainability, order, reliability and dependability of where to live, are necessary.
She recommended going to growsmartpw.org and getting involved. She concluded saying, “[This is] just the beginning. I know the applicants believe they have the supervisors in their pockets. I don’t believe that.”
The meeting has been rebroadcast several times and is expected to be rebroadcast at least once more, according to Yackel. Comcast declined to release the numbers of remote viewings, he added.