PRINCE WILLIAM COUNTY, Va. — After nearly two years of debate, and a 27-hour meeting, the Prince William County Board of Supervisors approved the Digital Gateway data center development.
The rezoning proposal was approved in a 4-3 vote, with one board member abstaining. The meeting drew large interest, with crowds lined up as early as 4:30 a.m. Tuesday to share their opinions at the meeting that didn't begin until 10 a.m. and wrapped up Wednesday around 1 p.m. More than 300 people signed up to speak, both virtually and in person.
Digital Gateway will bring multiple data centers spanning 23 million square feet across 2,000 acres of land along Pageland Avenue.
Supporters said this project is the future and the development will bring hundreds of jobs, and boost the economy through tax revenue.
"Compass Datacenters is grateful that the Board of County Supervisors has approved its rezoning application, affirming its alignment with the County’s 2022 plan for data center development," Chris Curtis, a senior vice president with Compass, said. "We are committed to being a good neighbor in Prince William County and continuing a dialogue with all of our stakeholders as this project moves forward."
Opponents staunchly disagreed, alleging the development would strain local resources and negatively impact historic preservation as well as the residents' overall quality of life.
“You’re going to have powerlines running crisscross through people’s backyards, that’s number one. And? who pays for the powerlines? We do, Virginia. Even though this is the Internet for the world, we pay for this. The second issue, the power demand will generate huge amounts of carbon emissions. We already have a climate issue in the world, and this is going to make things worse.” Yackle said.
The National Parks Conservation Association (NPCA) has already warned that they will be suing the county for allegedly not following state and county code.
"The hearing scheduled date was first made public ... and announced in the Washington Post on December 2," Kyle Hart with the NPCA said. "That notice fell approximately four days later than it was expected, and should have to be in compliance with the law. We believe the county was presented many opportunities to divert this hearing, so that it could be announced to be in compliance with the law. Given that they failed to do so, we expect that to be one of the tenants of frankly, a multi-faceted lawsuit that comes before this county and courts of the area."
The board also voted to approve Devlin Technology Park Data Center in late November, agreeing to a 4.2-million-square-foot data center development in Bristow. The land being considered for the Devlin Technology Park Project is currently approved for single-family homes.
Both approvals were done during a lame-duck session with the incoming Board of Supervisors set to take office in January 2024.