Substation ruled inconsistent with city plan; residents blast water, trees, and transmission line impacts
The Fredericksburg Planning Commission has unanimously rejected a proposal to rezone more than 80 acres near Route 3 and Cowan Boulevard for a massive data center campus, after months of controversy over water use, tree loss, and high-voltage transmission lines near neighborhoods.
The changes come as recommendations from the Planning Commission, which unanimously approved two Unified Development Ordinance Text Amendments for both types of establishments on Oct. 22.
The amendments for tattoo and piercing parlors would allow for more businesses to open in the City of Fredericksburg, as current development is limited.
Fredericksburg’s Planning Commission will meet Wednesday, Oct. 8, 2025, to consider a request for a drive-through coffee shop at Cowan Station and review its annual land-use report, even as two major redevelopment projects on Fall Hill Avenue highlight the city’s shifting growth patterns.
Coffee Shop Planned for Cowan Station
Organized by the Rappahannock Community Coalition, the “Snowmen Against Data Centers” rally took place just one day after nearly 10 inches of snow blanketed the region. The snowmen were erected on the Mary Washington University Campus, City Hall, and a house off Harrell Road in Stafford County.
The protest comes on the same day of the Fredericksburg Planning Commission meeting, where commissioners took up a proposal to endorse a Comprehensive Plan Amendment, a Zoning Map Amendment applying the Technology Overlay District, and a Zoning Proffer Amendment — which would clear the way to build the city’s first data center. The city council announced it would pursue the data center on an “accelerated” timeline in December but has yet to disclose which firm would develop the project.
Fredericksburg’s City Planning Commission will have a regular meeting on July 10. On the agenda are multiple applications from Micah Ecumenical Ministries and Mary Washington Healthcare in regards to The Jeremiah Project.
The project is a planned housing community for the city’s homeless. On the agenda is rezoning the 32- acre parcel near Roffman Road and Bakersfield Lane. A special Use Permit for institutional housing and vacation of right of way, will also be reviewed. The plan includes 189 units between an 80-unit building and 109 single or attached dwellings, in addition to three community buildings, a church, and a medical clinic.
