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Let’s take a moment to celebrate good things that are happening in the Rural Crescent – protecting our African American and Native American history. Come Walk With Us – December 10th
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The Board of Supervisors, in a 6-2 approval (with only Supervisors Vega and Candland voting no), approved another data center campus outside the recently adopted Data Center Overlay District – the I66 – Route 29 Technology Park.
This data center complex, at the intersection of Catharpin Rd. and Route 55, is within two miles of the 450,000 sq ft Amazon Haymarket data center complex in Haymarket, which resulted in a nearly four year long struggle by thousands of residents to protect the western end of the county from 120 ft. power towers needed for that project.
The intent of the newly established overlay district was to incentivize data center development in industrial-zoned areas with readily available power and water infrastructure.
At least a dozen Prince William County residents spoke out vehemently against the 29 Technology Park project, with concerns that ranged from the impacts on the historic Town of Haymarket to the immense water and power needs.
Recently approved data center projects being shoved into this intersection on the boundary of historic Old Town Haymarket now total more than 4 million sq ft. Why are county supervisors approving data centers there? Depending on who you ask in our county government, they claim only 4.9 million sq ft or 5.3 million sq ft of data centers are currently built out in the county. It is simply not believable that the county’s 10,000 acre data center overlay district can’t take any more data centers.
Prince William supervisors approve data center project along I-66 | Headlines | insidenova.com
“We don’t need data centers,” said Carol Czarkowski. “There are a lot of them that are vacant already in the overlay.”
Karen Sheehan, of the Coalition to Protect Prince William County, said the county needs a cohesive strategy on data centers before they take over the western end.
“Haymarket and Gainesville are being engulfed with data centers, transmission lines and substations,” she said.
“Although we don’t have firm ideas from these land developers or these data center developers on firm load requirements, we are anticipating that those reliability concerns will come into play and that there could be, or will be, a need for new transmission lines” – [Greg] Mathe [Dominion Energy Manager of Electric Transmission].”
“It’s unfair to put the community through this again,” Elena Schlossberg-Kunkel, executive director of The Coalition to Protect PWC, said during a public hearing that preceded the board’s vote.
Even more massive data center complexes are being proposed in the western part of the county – outside the overlay district and inside the Rural Crescent.
Learn more here: http://growsmartpw.org
Write to your national, state, and local leaders; and local planning commissioners. Here are their contact details:
US Senator Kaine:
james_whaley@kaine.senate.gov – (202) 224-4024
US Senator Warner:
Lauren_Marshall@warner.senate.gov, Bo_Machayo@warner.senate.gov – (202) 224-2023
US Congresswoman Wexton:
Amelia.Faraco-Hadlock@mail.house.gov – (202) 225-5136
US Congressman Wittman:
Christopher.Hall@mail.house.gov – (202) 225-4261
US Congressman Connolly:
Marlon.Dubuisson@mail.house.gov – (202) 225-1492
Sen. John Bell, D-13th District
district13@senate.virginia.gov
(571) 367-9080
Sen. Richard Stuart, R-28th District
district28@senate.virginia.gov
(804) 493-8892
Sen. Jeremy McPike, D-29th District
district29@senate.virginia.gov
(571) 316-0581
Sen. Scott Surovell, D-36th District
district36@senate.virginia.gov
(571) 249-4484
Sen. George Barker, D-39th District
district39@senate.virginia.gov
(703) 303-1426
Del. Candi Mundon King, D-2nd District
DelCMundonKing@house.virginia.gov
(804) 698-1002
Del. Danica Roem, D-13th District
DelDRoem@house.virginia.gov
(571) 393-0242
Del. Elizabeth Guzman, D-31st District
DelEGuzman@house.virginia.gov
(571) 403-1213
Del. Daniel Helmer, D-40th District
DelDHelmer@house.virginia.gov
(571) 445-0251
Del. Lee Carter, D-50th District
DelLCarter@house.virginia.gov
(571) 606-7299
Del. Hala Ayala, D-51st District
DelHAyala@house.virginia.gov
(804) 698-1051
Del. Luke Torian, D-52nd District
DelLTorian@house.virginia.gov
(703) 785-2224
Del. Suhas Subramanyam, D-87th District
DelSSubramanyam@house.virginia.gov
(571) 707-4566
We don’t yet have email addresses for delegates-elect Sewell and King.
PWC Board of Supervisors:
chair@pwcgov.org
jlawson@pwcgov.org
yvega@pwcgov.org
abailey@pwcgov.org
vsangry@pwcgov.org
kboddye@pwcgov.org
mfranklin@pwcgov.org
gainesville@pwcgov.org
PWC Planning Commissioners:
riccar1110@aol.com windyknoll2@gmail.com colesplanning@gmail.com planningwoodbridge@gmail.com jmcpwccommission@gmail.com occoquanplanning@gmail.com tom@tomgordy.com neabscoplanning@gmail.com
PWC Acting Director of Planning and Deputy County Executive: rhorner@pwcgov.org
PWC Director of Transportation: rcanizales@pwcgov.org
“UNLESS someone like you cares a whole awful lot, Nothing is going to get better. It’s not.”