Prince William County Supervisors voted to amend its comprehensive plan to allow up to 27 million square feet of data centers to be built next to Manassas National Battlefield Park.
It’s the largest, most transformative land-use case in county history.
The vote on the project, the Prince William Digital Gateway, came just before 9 a.m., following a marathon meeting lasting 14 hours and 20 minutes. The party-line vote saw five Democrats voting in favor, two Republicans opposed, and one Republican, Peter Candland, abstained.
Candland lives where data centers may be built and did not attend the meeting.
The vote clears the way to allow Prince William County to rival neighboring Loudoun County, which, today, has more data centers than anywhere else on the globe. Under the Prince William Digital Gateway Plan, 1.300 acres of land next to the national park would be used for data centers, 800 acres would be reserved for parks, and 10 acres would be used to mark historic sites.
Since the battlefield park is hallowed ground and the site of two major Civil War battles, there is a strong possibility that developers will find human remains buried on the site. Developers must conduct land surveys when submitting a rezoning application for new data centers.
The project will add to many data centers already in the area or are now under construction. The project’s supporters say the centers will generate more cash for government services like police, fire and rescue, and local schools.
Opponents say data centers will ruin the rural landscape next to the battlefield, and that cooling fans atop the 45-foot-tall buildings will produce unwanted noise. That stormwater runoff from the new facilities will pollute the Occoquan Reservoir, which provides drinking water to 1.5 million in Prince William and Fairfax counties.
The Prince William Digital Gateway comprehensive plan amendment was the only item on the Board of County Supervisors’ agenda. The meeting began at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, November 1, and ended at 9:50 a.m. Wednesday, November 2.
The Digital Gateway is the largest land-use case in county history. Brentsville District Supervisor Jeanine Lawson, who voted against the project, said it was the most significant case since Disney’s failed proposal to build a theme park in Haymarket in 1993 called Disney’s America.
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