When Joy Jackson moved to Caroline County from North Carolina in 1981, the Ladysmith resident said she had to drive 25 miles to a grocery store.
“At first, I thought I moved to the outer edges of the world,” Jackson said. “But I enjoyed it after a while.”
Jackson’s surroundings slowly began to change. The once-dirt road was paved as Jackson gave up some of her property to allow that project to move forward. Sometime later, a carwash was constructed nearby that was originally proposed to close at 8 p.m. but is now a 24-hour operation.
Jackson told the Caroline County Planning Commission Thursday night that she accepted the carwash as a sign of progress. But she’s drawing the line with a proposed data center campus that would sit on 140.3 acres behind her property on Green Road, off U.S. Route 1 and a short distance west of Interstate 95.
Jackson and several other residents who spoke out against the data center proposal exhaled a bit after the planning commission voted 4-2 to recommend denial of the Ladysmith Data Hub to the board of supervisors, claiming it is inconsistent with the county’s 2030 comprehensive plan. However, as Planning Commission Chair Bob Schwartz noted after his vote to deny, the supervisors will have the final say.
The site plan for the campus, which would be at 18577 Green Road if approved, includes a 10-acre substation. The land was previously rezoned in 1995 for Good Earth Horticulture. The planning commission vote concerned a special exception permit request. In Caroline’s comprehensive plan, the parcel is designated as Light Industrial within the Ladysmith Growth Area. Good Earth Horticulture requested the removal of existing proffers or those related to a horticulture facility, to be replaced by proffers related to a phased data center campus and supporting accessory uses.
Jackson’s daughter, Ann Jackson-Allen, said the 38 jobs the project will create are minimal. Residents who spoke at the public hearing are also wary of the potential of eminent domain, water, electricity and noise concerns.
“Yes, the county has to move forward, but at what cost?” Jackson-Allen said. “Are we really moving forward or are we taking a step back?”
The supervisors approved two data centers in the county — one near the Spotsylvania County border in Woodford and another in Carmel Church. Three others are in areas where they can be constructed by-right, County Planner Craig Pendleton said. Those three applicants completed site plans, which are now awaiting approval.
Residents said data centers are a threat to the rural nature of the community.
“I know I moved here because I love this area,” Lake Caroline resident Chris Smith said. “I love to drive down the road, smell those trees, smell those flowers, smell the manure of the cows on that road. I didn’t come here to hear the noise that’s going to come from that data center.”
The board of supervisors will now take up the project. No date for a public hearing has been set.
Commissioners J.D. Young of the Reedy Church District and Carol Horton of the Port Royal District voted to recommend approval to the supervisors, with Horton stating she wanted to learn more about the project.
In addition to Schwartz, Madison District Commissioner Lee Tingler, Steve Rollins of the Mattaponi District and Richard Williams of the Western Caroline District voted to recommend denial.
