By Nolan Stout Jan 18, 2022 Updated 20 hrs ago 7
Mary Ann Ghadban, far right, and many of her neighbors are urging the county to zone areas along Pageland Road for data centers.
Paul Lara / InsideNoVa
Prince William County officials are moving forward with two in-person listening sessions on data center proposals despite criticism for holding them as coronavirus cases surge in the region.
The county is holding public input sessions Jan. 20 on potentially expanding the Data Center Opportunity Zone Overlay District and Jan. 27 on the PW Digital Gateway proposal along Pageland Lane.
Supervisor Jeanine Lawson, R-Brentsville, attempted to have the meetings delayed at the Board of Supervisors meeting on Tuesday, but her motions failed to pass.
The first session is part of an ongoing review of the overlay district, which is 10,000 acres that were designated in 2016 to support data center development by reducing regulatory hurdles.
The Board of Supervisors voted in May to study areas to expand the district along high-transmission power lines. A consultant is examining potential areas to expand the district but will also consider necessary changes to construction standards, the Comprehensive Plan and the zoning ordinance, along with any other effects from data centers.
The second meeting is for input on the PW Digital Gateway – a proposal to potentially pave the way for more than 27.6 million square feet of data centers along Pageland Lane, or nearly as much data center space as is currently in use or under construction in neighboring Loudoun County, the world’s largest concentration of such facilities.
Data centers are essentially large warehouses that hold the mechanisms needed to support computer systems, including digital storage that powers large portions of the internet.
The gateway proposal is a request for the county to change the land designation of properties along Pageland Lane in the Comprehensive Plan from agricultural zoning to technology zoning.
A Comprehensive Plan amendment only changes what the county says it hopes for future use of the land. It does not bind the county, the board or the landowners to any guaranteed future uses. The properties would still require zoning approval to allow data centers.
Opponents of the proposals say the county is plowing forward with in-person events despite the surge in COVID-19 cases and is forcing residents to risk their health to have their voices heard.
Ten organizations sent a letter to the Board of Supervisors on Thursday urging them to delay the hearings to avoid a super-spreader event. The organizations are the Mid-Atlantic Region National Parks Conservation Association; Prince William Conservation Alliance; Great Falls Group of Sierra Club Virginia; Manassas Battlefield Trust; Virginia Piedmont Heritage Area Association; Piedmont Environmental Council; Coalition for Smarter Growth; American Battlefield Trust; Virginia Native Plant; and the Executive Council Coalition to Protect America’s National Parks.
“County residents should not feel like they must choose between contracting COVID or engaging in the public process on an issue with direct and long-lasting impacts,” the letter says. “Furthermore, holding a public meeting at a time when so many people cannot participate undermines the democratic process and public confidence.”
Prince William County has seen more than 13,000 new cases of the virus in the first weeks of 2022, according to the Virginia Department of Health.
While cases are at unprecedented levels, the county reported seven hospitalizations to start the year. The Prince William Health District, which also includes Manassas and Manassas Park, reported no deaths in that timeframe.
The meetings are being held at George Mason University’s Science and Technology Campus and will require masks and health screenings.
On Tuesday, Lawson made a motion to delay both meetings because of the surge in virus cases, particularly those caused by the omicron variant.
Interim County Executive Elijah Johnson cautioned the board from delaying only certain meetings because of the virus. He said if such action was approved, it would require changes to other parts of the government’s operations.
“We want to be very careful when we start saying we’re going to restrict because of Omicron because we have other business of the county that we haven’t taken that restrictive approach to,” he said. “If we’re going to send a message to the public that we are looking at the virus and we want to make changes to meetings coming up, we have an open government and we need to be consistent with that.”
Lawson said the overlay district meeting is not “time-sensitive with the continuity of government.” She said also offering a remote participation option didn’t allay her concerns.
“It’s not the same when you’re behind a computer screen,” she said. “You can’t have a conversation with a planning expert who is trained in planning and have a one-on-one conversation through a laptop.”
Candland, who could only vote on the status of the overlay district meeting, said he’d support a delay, but not because of the virus.
“I do not believe that the omicron virus, what we currently know about it, would require that this board or the state or the county take action to start limiting activities,” he said.
The board first voted on the overlay district meeting. The motion to delay failed on a 4-4 vote with Lawson, Candland, Republican Supervisor Yesli Vega and Democratic Supervisor Kenny Boddye voting in favor. Democratic Supervisors Andrea Bailey, Margaret Franklin, Victor Angry and Chair Ann Wheeler voted to continue with the meeting schedule.
The vote on the digital gateway meeting failed on a 3-4 vote, with supervisors voting the same, but Candland abstaining.
In a press release after the vote, Lawson chastised supervisors who voted to keep the meetings as scheduled.
“This is just more evidence that Chair Wheeler and Supervisors Angry, Bailey and Franklin want to railroad the destruction of the Rural Crescent,” she said.
At last week’s Planning Commission meeting, some officials felt the county hadn’t conducted adequate outreach about the planned meetings.
Gainesville Commissioner Richard Berry said many people who want to attend might be unaware of the requirements for registration or completing health screenings.
“I am very concerned about having roadblocks for people’s participation,” he said. “If we don’t make this easy for people and they get there and they find out that they cannot even be admitted to the building, we are going to have a PR problem like we’ve never seen.”
The data center overlay district meeting is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. Jan. 20. It will start with an open house with county agencies and include representatives from Dominion Energy and the Prince William Service Authority, said Acting Planning Director Rebecca Horner.
Public comment will start at 7 p.m., with no planned question-and-answer period.
“It’s intended to be a listening session before we do any policy development,” Horner said.
To register for the overlay district meeting and complete the health screening, visit pwcva.gov/department/planning-office/data-center-overlay-district-comprehensive-review.
The PW Digital Gateway listening session will start with an open house at 6:30 p.m. Jan. 27, followed by public comment at 7 p.m.
Both events will be held at the Beacon Hall Conference Center, 10945 George Mason Circle.
For more information on the PW Digital Gateway meeting, visit pwcva.gov/department/planning-office/pw-digital-gateway