The County is packing meetings on all of these controversial issues – which impact everyone throughout the county – right into the beginning of the year (probable dates – not yet confirmed):
Thursday, January 20 Data Center Opportunity Zone Overlay District
Thursday, January 27 Pageland Lane Comprehensive Plan Amendment
Thursday, February 10 Comp Plan Long-range Land Use Chapter
Hundreds of people are commenting on Facebook, and thousands are viewing posts across multiple social media sites, BUT – the changes being proposed demand personal involvement from each of us. The process is being rushed, and now is the time for hundreds and thousands to personally Stand Up, Show Up, and Speak Out. This county must be blanketed by hundreds of signs in yards, neighbors spreading flyers to their neighbors, and citizens speaking at board meetings, public hearings and town halls.
Scroll down to access links for all the breaking news – ie: PWC Environmental Resources rejects proposed Rural Crescent plan
TAKE ACTION:
Ask your US Senators and Representatives to help protect our valuable national resources. Just as Congress held a congressional hearing to study the impacts of Disney, we believe this proposal is far worse for the integrity of the battlefield – and deserves the same attention. Use this easy link to customize and send your own message.
Reach out to your Virginia State legislators to ask they get involved with what is happening in their districts. We need them to intercede to protect our state parks and our regional water supply. Use this easy link to customize and send your own message.
We believe this process is being deliberately rushed to deny citizens their voice. Send a message to the county Board of Supervisors, Planning Office, and Planning Commissioners on their railroaded process with this easy link.
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GET INVOLVED:
Smart Growth Protects What We Have!
A discussion on Data Centers… from the Rural Crescent to the Occoquan Reservoir
Thursday, January 6, 7:00 pm
Webinar
Register HERE
Landowners on Pageland Lane have filed a data center development proposal to create an industrial corridor through the Rural Crescent, covering more than 2,000 acres next to Manassas National Battlefield Park and Conway Robinson State Forest.
Although the plan appears to focus on data centers, it also opens the door to other industrial uses, such as warehouses, that generate truck traffic and the need for a major new road connecting I-66 with the back side of Dulles Airport (Bi-County Parkway).
This proposal offers a false choice between building data centers to boost our commercial tax base OR protecting our national parks, Rural Crescent, and drinking water supply. We can do both! Land is available in the Data Center Overlay District, which means we can build more data centers in the right spot AND protect our environmental assets.
Protecting the Rural Crescent and our national parks helps us meet climate change goals. These assets encourage tourism, create attractive, desirable communities, protect our water supply, direct infrastructure improvements to underserved areas, and safeguard high quality habitats for wildlife.
Full details here.
Sponsored by Prince William Conservation Alliance with the Piedmont Environmental Council, National Parks Conservation Association
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In the News: (Access all the latest here)
County’s environmental staff rejects rural crescent data center plan over ‘major’ impacts to natural resources
Prince William Times, December 21
Bipartisan opposition to Pageland data center plan emerges at Heritage Hunt meeting
InsideNova, December 16
Delegate Dan Helmer Letter – PW Digital Gateway
December 15
Battlefield: Pageland data centers would have ‘negative impact’ on historic resources
InsideNova, December 14
Data Centers are Red-Hot, but they are increasingly facing a much more hostile local landscape
Bisnow, December 12
GUEST OPINION: Data centers, the Bi-County Parkway are Too Much for the Rural Crescent By Danica Roem
Prince William Times, December 2
Battlefield superintendent calls data center plan the ‘single greatest threat to the park’ in decades
Prince William Times, December 2
Rural Crescent Data Center Plan Resurrects Bi-County Parkway Debate
Prince William Times, December 1
Opposition Mounts Against ‘Rural Crescent’ Data Center Plans
Prince William Times, Nov 18