Stafford County has canceled the Planning Commission meeting scheduled for Wednesday, October 14, after the applicant and county staff agreed to postpone public hearings on four large data center proposals along Kings Highway until November 18, 2026.
The county said the delay will allow further review and refinement of the applications so they are fully prepared for consideration. The projects were the only business on the October 14 agenda.
The four proposals — Forest Lane, Simms Farm, Sisson North, and Sisson South — form a combined assemblage in the George Washington Election District. Together they seek approval for 48 data center buildings totaling roughly 11 million square feet and up to 14 electrical substations on more than 1,400 acres of land outside the Urban Services Area. Most of the property is currently agricultural or rural, and several parcels border or lie near the Rappahannock River, with Critical Resource Protection Areas and floodplains on site.
Forest Lane is the largest package, covering 845 acres on the north side of Kings Highway near the intersections with Forest Lane Road, Caisson Road, and Fisher Lane, northeast of the Little Falls Run Wastewater Treatment Facility. The application proposes rezoning from A-1 Agricultural and M-1 Light Industrial to M-2 Heavy Industrial for 31 data center buildings totaling 7 million square feet, plus a conditional use permit for up to eight electrical substations. The site includes 150 acres of tree-preservation areas and is just outside the Urban Services Area.
Simms Farm involves about 205 acres south of the Kings Highway and Caisson Road intersection, roughly four miles outside the Urban Services Area. It seeks rezoning from A-1 to M-2 for four data center buildings totaling 1 million square feet and up to two substations (one described as regional, covering a combined 35 acres). The property has Critical Resource Protection Areas and both 100-year and 500-year floodplains.
Sisson South covers 241 acres on the south side of Kings Highway near Albion Lane. It proposes rezoning portions of the property from A-1 to M-2, along with proffers amendments, for 13 data center buildings totaling 3 million square feet and one electrical substation. The land includes agricultural fields, a residential dwelling, an existing sand and gravel mining operation, and commercial tree-stump grinding. It is bounded by the Rappahannock River, with Critical Resource Protection Areas and 100-year floodplain. Sisson North, on the north side of Kings Highway about 500 feet west of Layover Lane, covers roughly 114 acres and seeks a conditional use permit for up to three electrical substations on mostly forested land that includes two residential dwellings and White Oak Run.
Staff reports prepared for the original October 14 date recommended denial of the rezonings and most conditional use permits. The reports cited the sites’ Agricultural/Rural or Mining designations in the Comprehensive Plan, the proposed 75-foot building heights (which require conditional use permits to exceed standard limits), the number and scale of the substations, and proffers that staff said do not sufficiently preserve rural and agricultural character or limit future uses strictly to data centers and related facilities. One exception was staff support for Comprehensive Plan compliance on the single Sisson South substation, which staff described as compatible with surrounding uses but contingent on approval of the associated data center.
All data center applications propose using only a future reuse-water system for industrial cooling and oppose any use of potable water for that purpose. Pre-development sound studies submitted with the applications show projected noise levels generally within the county’s 55 dBA daytime limit, though staff noted the absence of winter viewshed exhibits and raised questions about screening effectiveness when trees are bare. Proposed mitigations include setbacks, vegetated buffers, and 20-foot berms.
The postponement means residents who planned to speak on October 14 will now have until November 18 to prepare comments. The county has not released a revised agenda or additional details on what specific changes the applicant and staff intend to review during the delay. The November 18 hearing is expected to cover the full package of applications, which the applicant has previously described as an “all or nothing” request. The Board of Supervisors would make final decisions on any recommendations from the Planning Commission.
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