PRINCE WILLIAM COUNTY, Va. — Residents in Prince William County have been fighting over a proposal to bring data centers to Gainesville for nearly two years. After several, hours-long meetings, the Prince William County Board of Supervisors is expected to make a decision during a Tuesday meeting.
If approved, the “Digital Gateway” would bring multiple data centers to 2,000 acres of land along Pageland Avenue.
Supporters said this project is the future and the development will bring hundreds of jobs, and boost the economy through tax revenue.
“What this is about, is the county at large. There’s more than 478,000 people living here. School needs to be brought up to the level of Loudoun County. We need to have incomes for teachers, first responders that are basically competitive with the rest of Northern Virginia. Our county has way too much reliance on real estate. It’s the taxes, that are just too high. This is a way of kind of hitting all those things at once” Supporter JR Ralfo said.
Those against the project said the data centers would strain local resources, kill historic preservation, and impact people’s hearing and overall quality of life.
Roger Yackle, was in line at 4 a.m. on Tuesday. He’s been advocating against the project for nearly two years.
“You’re going to have powerlines running crisscross through people’s backyards, that’s number one. And? who pays for the powerlines? We do, Virginia. Even though this is the Internet for the world, we pay for this. The second issue, the power demand will generate huge amounts of carbon emissions. We already have a climate issue in the world, and this is going to make things worse.” Yackle said.
Last month, the Prince William County Board of Supervisors voted in favor of the Devlin Technology Park Data Center project. The land being considered for the project is currently approved for single-family homes.
More than 300 people signed up to speak. Some virtually, others in person. The meeting which started at 10 a.m., didn't begin hearing from the public until 5 p.m.
Each person is allowed nine minutes max to speak on the project. The meeting stretched into Wednesday morning.