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- By Anya Sczerzenie Times Staff Writer
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- Jun 22, 2023 Updated 20 hrs ago
Supervisor Jeanine Lawson
courtesy
Supervisor Jeanine Lawson handily won the Republican nomination in Tuesday’s primary election to run for chair of the Prince William Board of County Supervisors, beating her opponent Ken Knarr with 81% of the more than 13,400 votes cast in the race.
And like the Democratic nominating contest in which Deshundra Jefferson pulled off an upset win against Board Chair Ann Wheeler, inappropriately sited data centers were a big concern among voters as they went to the polls.
Lawson supporters said they voted for her over Knarr because of her opposition to the county’s most controversial data center projects, including the Prince William Digital Gateway and the Devlin Technology Park.
Knarr is a strong supporter of the PW Digital Gateway and has his own home and land under contract to sell to Compass, one of two developers behind the 1,600-acre data center corridor proposed on land adjacent to Manassas National Battlefield Park.
At Sudley United Methodist Church in Manassas, near the PW Digital Gateway site, Greg Mills, 58, of Haymarket, said he came out to vote because his “biggest concern is the data centers.”
Mills said he is “hoping and praying that she can put the brakes on the data centers.”
“They are out of hand,” Mills said. “What’s enough data centers? We have already passed that point.”
Mills said he believes that the current Prince William County government, headed by Wheeler, D-At Large, “has allowed the Eastern end of the county to run roughshod over Western Prince William.”
At Chris Yung Elementary School, Bristow resident John O’Leary said he voted for Lawson because of his concerns over data centers but also because of Lawson’s track record as a supervisor.
“She’s done very well these past 10 years,” O’Leary said. “She’s out in the community all the time, whether it’s for business or educational events.”
O’Leary said the proposed Devlin Technology Park, which is slated to be built near his neighborhood, concerns him.
“You’ve got four schools nearby,” O’Leary said. “There’s a place for data centers, just not around communities.”
Although Lawson has supported some data center development in her Brentsville District, she opposes the PW Digital Gateway and the Devlin Technology Park because of their locations.
The PW Digital Gateway is proposed for land in the formerly protected rural crescent, while the Devlin Technology Park is slated for 270 acres behind homes and Chris Yung Elementary School in Bristow.
The PW Digital Gateway proposes 28 to 34 data centers, while the Devlin Technology Park proposes seven to 11 data centers at Devlin and Linton Hall roads. Both projects require rezonings to move forward.
Lawson has said the county should “take a pause” on further data center development because while building sizes have increased, the county’s development standards have not kept up to mitigate their impacts on surrounding homes and businesses.
“I compare old data (centers) to new data (center) rezoning cases like the Geico gecko to Godzilla,” Lawson said. “What used to be requests for 30 feet in height, quiet, somewhat obscure buildings are now requests for massive, 110-foot-tall buildings, in plain sight, that can also be noisy.”
Prior to the adoption of the county’s new comprehensive plan, which Lawson opposed, development in the county’s rural crescent was limited to one home per 10 acres and extensions of the public sewer lines were largely prohibited. The county established the rural crescent in 1998 to put the brakes on residential sprawl.
Lawson said she’s also running to strengthen the county’s police department by hiring and retaining more officers.
“A fully staffed department allows officers to be proactive with community engagement, working directly with specific neighborhood, church and school needs,” Lawson said.
A resident of Prince William County since 1995, Lawson grew up in Iowa and earned a bachelor’s degree in political science from the University of Northern Iowa. She has represented the Brentsville District since 2014, and ran unsuccessfully for Congress in 2022. This is her first run for county chair.
Reach Anya Sczerzenie at asczerzenie@fauquier.com