On Tuesday, Nov. 21, many of us will be preparing for Thanksgiving – maybe making pumpkin pies, cleaning our house or grabbing those last few cans of yams from the store.
Others will be on the road, starting their getaway for the long holiday weekend.
But if Prince William County Board Chair Ann Wheeler has her way, that day will go a long way toward determining the future of our county. Wheeler has asked county staff to schedule a public hearing that day – two days before Thanksgiving – on two rezoning proposals for QTS Realty Trust to build data centers on 876 acres along Pageland Lane. The massive project would be part of the PW Digital Gateway, for which supervisors approved a Comprehensive Plan Amendment last November.
Here’s why this is poor timing. For starters, this hearing will be held as most people are thinking more about drumsticks than data centers. Many residents who would want to speak either in support or opposition of the plan may have to postpone or change their holiday plans, especially if they involve travel.
Of course, politics is at play here. Conveniently, Nov. 21 is two weeks AFTER the election when the occupants of all eight seats on the Board of County Supervisors will be decided for the next four years. That means that no sitting board member has to worry about his or her vote on the QTS rezoning being considered – one way or the other – by voters on Nov. 7.
But, also conveniently, it is about six weeks BEFORE the new board members elected on Nov. 7 actually begin their terms. Wheeler, who supports the data center expansion, knows she controls the current board’s Democrats, who have a 5-3 edge. The makeup of the new board is uncertain, and it definitely won’t include Wheeler, who lost her renomination bid in June.
Whether you think the PW Digital Gateway is an abomination or a boon for the county, the debate has been fraught with perceptions that supporters are trampling on the wishes of the community. Perception is reality, as Lee Atwater taught us. Scheduling this critical vote during the board’s “lame duck” period – and on a holiday week, nonetheless – only feeds that perception.
And the only things we should be fed on Thanksgiving are turkey and football.