As Caroline County Board of Supervisors member Jeff Sili attempted to illustrate his concerns regarding an increase in acreage dedicated to the Planned Innovation, Research and Technology Park (PIRT) to construct data centers, his attempt at using a graphic was shot down.
“Did you share that with us before the meeting?” Chair Jeff Black inquired.
Sili had hoped to use a PowerPoint slide and display a photo of the construction of a data center in Northern Virginia that featured several dump trucks lined up with vehicles behind them on a clogged roadway.
Even without the visual, several county residents had already made it clear during a public hearing that they have no interest in expanding the PIRT in the Carmel Church Growth Area by an additional 1,635 acres.
Currently, Carmel Church includes 1,466 acres of land with the PIRT Land Use Designation. Residents noted that no work has begun in either that area or the Mattameade data center project in Woodford that was approved a year ago.
Supervisors voted 6-0 to table the comprehensive plan amendment that would’ve permitted the expansion of the PIRT into additional Rural Preservation land until Sept. 24; the county’s planning commission recommended denial in June.
Residents said they are fed up with constant proposals to amend the comprehensive plan because, in their view, it is supposed to be a long-term document to guide the county’s vision for the future.
“The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result,” resident Kevin Collins said. “Knock it off. We don’t want the comp plan change. Build it where it’s supposed to go, and you won’t have people coming to every meeting [vehemently complaining]. It’s very simple. Listen to your constituents. It’s not that hard.”
Supervisors also decided to put into motion an effort to make data centers permitted by special exception only in land zoned industrial or “M-1.” The move is an effort to prevent a developer from buying industrial land with the ability to build a data center by-right.
“We want [data centers] to be secluded and part of a campus and not curbside like they are up north,” Madison District Supervisor Clay Forehand said. “That’s a measure to ensure that happens.”
The residents who spoke out against the comprehensive plan amendment generally expressed support for data centers within the PIRT area. They said the plan was well thought-out and gives supervisors a strong basis for decision-making.
Two residents said they moved from Northern Virginia for Caroline’s bucolic scenery and don’t want to see it disrupted outside of the PIRT zone by data center construction and what they deemed the unsightliness of the finished product.
Renisha Smith, who lives in the Reedy Church District, noted signs entering the county asking residents and visitors to keep Caroline beautiful.
“How are these data centers helping keep Caroline beautiful?” Smith asked. “Are these nothing but big giant pieces of litter?”
During discussion on the vote, the supervisors said they did not have enough information to decide on the comprehensive plan amendment.
Sili was left disgruntled by Black’s assertion that he not be allowed to present a graphic without informing board members ahead of time. Supervisor Nancy Long of the Port Royal District said that is not a part of county policy, but other supervisors said it was something that Sili himself supported previously.
“I didn’t have a problem with last-minute things before,” Mattaponi District Supervisor Floyd Thomas said. “I think it was Mr. Sili who said we shouldn’t get them, so I’m just willing to go along with his original point.”
Sili said in a statement to the Free Press that his previous point was in regard to staff members handing supervisors information to examine shortly before the meeting. He said it was not meant to regulate materials that supervisors use to demonstrate their points. He said he was “taken aback” by the perceived unwillingness of the other supervisors to engage in a dialogue about the issue.
Forehand said in a Facebook exchange that Sili is “welcome to share his presentations, get it on the agenda, at a constituent meeting, on social media, on his own website, or give it to the rest of the board beforehand like he expects others to do.”
“I don’t work for the rest of the board and can change my opinion five minutes before a meeting, if I choose, without having to run it by the board,” Sili said. “I work for the citizens who expect me to address issues in public.”
Sili stressed that, like the residents who spoke, he is not opposed to data centers in the “many, many places we have designated they can go previously,” despite concerns about power, roads and projected revenue.
“I am hoping Caroline will have better luck than our northern neighbors and the ones approved will follow through and we see some shovels in the ground,” Sili said. “But what I am not for is allowing the land speculators to further encroach on land that is Rural Preservation.”
