A deadlocked Spotsylvania County Board of Supervisors declined to require a special use permit (SUP) for data center development in Industrial, Commercial, Office and Village zones during a meeting in March. The vote failed 3-3 with Salem District Supervisor Deborah Frazier absent.
On Tuesday, the board again declined to enforce a requirement for a special use permit, instead creating a definition of a data center and approving an ordinance reflecting some of the standards recommended by the planning commission for data centers in Industrial districts.
Lee Hill District Supervisor Lori Hayes expressed concern about allowing data centers to be constructed by-right in any area, stating that an SUP would allow county officials to consider each project on a case-by-case basis.
“In my estimation, anything other than a special-use permit it doesn’t make sense,” Hayes said. “But the majority rules, and it failed on a 3-3 vote. Now, we’re with the standards. If this is the game we’re going to play, I’m here to play.”
Hayes said any data center project needs to be a “win-win” for Spotsylvania residents. She said officials need to realize the value of the land in the county and “know our worth.”
“We are going to make sure our citizens are protected,” Hayes said.
Hayes questioned whether the only drawback to a special-use permit is that data center developers would have to go through an additional hurdle to complete their project. She said there are no cons for the county if the supervisors make developers wait a little longer to start construction.
Spotsylvania Director of Planning and Zoning Kimberly Pomatto said that thought process runs counter to the county’s efforts to recruit data centers as a revenue generator.
“We’ve historically identified data centers as targeted industries,” Pomatto said. “So, when, if you look at all the code amendments that we’ve done up to this point, what we’ve done is we really were setting the stage to attract all of these data centers to our county. So, adding that extra layer does send a message that this is not so much the targeted industry we had historically identified it as. I’m not saying it’s wrong. We would have to pivot a little bit.”
Hayes pushed back that officials in counties in Northern Virginia have pivoted, citing that Loudoun County eliminated by-right data centers earlier this year.
While an SUP won’t be required in Spotsylvania, the supervisors did approve some regulations on Tuesday.
They voted 7-0 to require 1,000-foot setbacks from all residential property lines, schools, churches, hospitals, daycares and parks. They also voted 7-0 to restrict the height of the structures to 75 feet, although the Hunters Ridge campus was previously approved at 110 feet, and Hunters Ridge South was recommended for approval by the planning commission at the same height. The supervisors will vote on Hunters Ridge South at an upcoming public hearing.
The ordinance defines a data center as “a facility used primarily for the storage, management, processing, and transmission of digital data, which houses computer and/or network equipment, systems, servers, appliances, and other associated components related to digital data operations.”
The definition goes on to state that “such a facility may also include air handlers, power generators, water cooling and storage facilities, utility substations, and other associated minor utility infrastructure to support sustained operations at a data center.”
In other business Tuesday, the board agreed unanimously to permit the applicant for Cosner East Main Street, a development of 50 multifamily apartment units and 15,000 square feet of non-residential commercial space, to defer their public hearing until November. A public hearing for the project was on the agenda Tuesday. The proposal entails one existing parcel of 3.44 acres, adjacent to the Station Square apartments and Sheetz and to the east side of Hospital Boulevard near Spotsylvania Regional Hospital.
