As speakers lined up during the public comment period of the Spotsylvania County Board of Supervisors meeting Tuesday night, several shared similar sentiments about data centers: they’re noisy, they strain the electrical grid, endanger the water supply and they’ll be unsightly additions to the county viewshed if they need to be decommissioned.
Charlie Payne, an attorney for Hirschler Fleischer, which is representing many of the data center applicants in the region, grew perplexed by the constant stream of negative comments about the industry that he said county officials began recruiting 10 years ago.
“I quite honestly get a little frustrated when I hear members of the community complain about issues about data centers,” Payne said … “Part of what we see in society is that we embrace misinformation and fear, and we don’t always embrace the facts. I want us to embrace the facts. I want to help with that any way I can.”
It turned out Payne did not have to fret about the project he was on hand to promote. The supervisors voted 5-2 to approve rezoning for Hunters Ridge South — the maximum 2.2-million-square foot-campus proposed to be located at the southern end of Cosner Drive.
But there was plenty of discussion. Supervisors Jacob Lane of the Livingston District and Lori Hayes of the Lee Hill District voted against the project after Hayes made a motion that failed, 4-3, to defer any decision until the Sept. 23 meeting.
That meeting will be a joint session with the planning commission, along with representatives from Amazon Web Services, Dominion Power and Rappahannock Electric Cooperative. Supervisor Kevin Marshall of the Berkeley District made a motion earlier in the meeting to set up the session so the community can learn more about the industry. It passed 7-0.
“This would serve as an opportunity for folks to hear from the applicants, from the industry,” said Supervisor Drew Mullins of the Courtland District. “They can come prepared to … educate all of us, dispel some misinformation, get it out there in the open.”
After Payne spoke, Hayes cautioned him against lecturing the community about data centers. Hayes said she’s not against the industry, noting that she voted for the original Hunters Ridge project. However, Hayes added that her goal is to “make sure that going forward we’re protecting our citizens in every way possible, whether you think it’s legitimate” or not.
“I want to make sure that you understand or that you appreciate the fact that a lot of the citizens that are out there have done their own due diligence and they are bringing legitimate concerns to the table,” Hayes said. “I feel like whenever we have a concern, it gets labeled as disinformation or, ‘You don’t know what we know.’ So, I just respectfully want to caution you about that because that’s the way I’m feeling about some of this, and I know my constituents feel that way.”
Hayes said data centers’ impact on wetlands is one concern that she was hoping to research further. But Supervisor Deborah Frazier of the Salem District rebutted that there are subdivisions in the county built on “acres and acres” of wetlands.
Frazier said the supervisors and county residents should understand that if they don’t want to see real estate and personal property taxes increase, they need to embrace the data center industry.
She said data center developers aren’t doing a good enough job of telling the story of the benefits they bring to the community, noting that Amazon is projected to contribute $930 million worth of infrastructure improvements to the county.
“I want to ask the citizens of this county: ‘Where are we going to find $930 million to build infrastructure?’” Frazier said.
Board Chair Chris Yakabouski, who voted with Hayes and Lane to defer the matter, said he ultimately voted for Hunters Ridge South because it will be 1,600 feet from the nearest home, and the applicant proffered to construct a section of a new road connecting Massaponax Church Road to Cosner Drive. The applicants also proffered $100,000 to the school division’s Career and Technical Center and will not use potable water, among other proffers.
In other business on Tuesday, the supervisors decided to defer a vote on awarding the Virginia Heritage at Lee’s Parke Homeowners Association $400,000 after the county allegedly released performance bonds to builder Lennar Homes prematurely. The HOA is seeking $1.3 million from the county, alleging that its staff released the bonds despite Lennar not completing requirements that resulted in county code violations for the HOA once it assumed full responsibility for the management of the community.
Yakabouski, who is the supervisor representing the Battlefield District (where the subdivision is located), made the motion for the county to pay the HOA $400,000. It did not receive a second as Lane expressed concern about setting a precedent for other communities that may have issues. Lane and Mullins both said they will speak with their constituents and be better prepared to vote on the matter at the Sept. 9 meeting.
Yakabouski, who withdrew his motion, said the Virginia Heritage situation is unique.
“The reason I believe that this is different than other situations is that the enormity of all of the issues that they have had and the fixes that have gone along with those,” Yakabouski said. “if we’re being totally straight, those problems should have never happened again.”
