ALEXANDRIA, Va. — As residents in an Alexandria community fight against a proposed data center development, Fairfax County leaders are looking into changing zoning ordinances and standards for developers.
Several neighbors in the Bren Mar neighborhood showed up to a county meeting about land use on Tuesday. They held signs that said, “END BY-RIGHT Data Centers.”
The residents said they're concerned about a proposed 70-foot-tall data center along Edsall Road, which would be located roughly 260 feet behind some homes. Neighbors previously helped stop the developer from constructing the site, but the company changed plans to a smaller footprint that gives them by-right use on the particular zoning. Through by-right use, the approval process is faster without the need for input from the public nor supervisors.
“They (supervisors) need to be the ones that are going to say whether they approve or oppose data centers and be accountable to the residents,” Tyler Ray, a resident, told WUSA9. “By-right removes any accountability. Our biggest concern is noise and the height of the building which would be taller than what it is now. There’s also the environmental impact that it brings up.”
During the meeting, county supervisors discussed provisions to the zoning ordinance that would restrict where data centers would go by-right and trigger a public hearing and approval strictly from supervisors and planning commission. Currently, they are only approved administratively.
Another section of the meeting looked into changes to standards for developers to follow in the future including conducting a noise study, setting a minimum distance from homes, and analyzing exterior looks and enclosing all generators.
“Proximity to residential communities and overall size are things that should trigger additional process and scrutiny,” Supervisor James Walkinshaw said.
While Chairman Jeff McKay agrees, he doesn’t believe eliminating all by-right use would be effective.
“We do want to consider some by-right uses because that's important to steer these to those districts that we have declared make sense,” McKay said. “For the ones that fall in between, we want to have a say in those.”
McKay said compared to neighboring Loudoun and Prince William Counties where the data center industry exploded, Fairfax County is in a unique position because of its geography. Unlike the other counties where it’s cheaper to purchase land, Fairfax County has fewer parcels of land to provide.
Fairfax County currently has 15 data centers.
“Why I'm concerned about them is because it's hard to wedge them into already large and urbanized environments without impacting anyone,” McKay said. “If we have an intense interest in data centers in the county, we want to make sure that we're not writing the book as we go.”
The county will undergo a public outreach for the next two months before a public hearing at the planning commission in June. The goal is to have the board of supervisors vote on the matter by July.
While county leaders believe the process is an appropriate time to be fast and do it correctly, Ray said it would be too late to stop the data center from being built in the community. Amy amendment must take effect no later than 60 days after the proposal is submitted.
“We believe there’s time to act if there’s enough political will,” Ray said.
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