PRINCE WILLIAM COUNTY, Va. — On Tuesday night, the Prince William County Board voted 5-2 in favor of the PW Digital Gateway.
The proposed plan would transform more than 2,139 acres of land along Pageland Lane to fit 27 million square feet of data centers. There have been numerous rallies and much controversy with public comments from both sides.
More than 300 people were signed up to speak both in favor and opposition. The meeting lasted more than 14 hours.
Among those in attendance, MaryAnn Ghadban was one of them. She's lived on Pageland Lane in Gainesville for 40 years and supports the data centers.
Ghadban says it's time for Prince William County to welcome in more data centers like some of the neighboring counties. "We've always played second fiddle to Fairfax and Loudoun County," Ghadban said.
She says she and dozens of her neighbors are ready to sell their homes to make room for the data centers. She says it simply makes sense.
"We all hoped this would have been our forever home, but you can't have a forever home when you've got two football fields of massive transmission lines covering your back and front yard," she told WUSA9.
She says after seeing data centers being approved nearby in 2019, she and some of her neighbors thought it would be a good idea to try and get data centers built on their properties.
Ghadban says the stretch of Pageland Lane she lives on is full of massive transmission lines and that it's a terrible cut-through road. She says there is a ton of truck traffic all day long, and it's no longer conducive to residential living.
"We have everything the data centers need. We have the power and the high-speed fiber. It was the logical location to change our land use and become a data center corridor," said Ghadban.
She says it's a win-win for the county and the landowners and called it a "pathway to [the] middle class for Prince William County".
In a letter to the Prince William County Board of Supervisors, 30 organizations called on the board to vote no.
Some of the concerns that have been brought up, the noise the data centers will create. Others worry about the environmental impact, like the drinking water from Occoquan Reservoir to Manassas National Battlefield Park.
"We’re concerned about water, quality and damage that could happen and further to some of the really fragile ecosystems in the park," said Ed Stierli, the Mid-Atlantic Regional Director National Parks Conservation Association.
Others like Elena Schlossberg from the Coalition to Protect Prince William County say they will continue to fight this.
Schlossberg told WUSA9 "we're not moving away, and we're going to fight to protect our quality of life."
Prince William County Planning Manager Stephen Gardner told WUSA9 there's still more to be done.
Gardner says three separate zoning applications are currently being processed. There's no definitive date for when they'll be completed, and the process could take months.
He told WUSA9 there are two more hearings, and then a final vote.