A majority of the residents who spoke during Wednesday’s public input session about Fredericksburg’s proposed Technology Overlay District acknowledged or even supported the city’s pursuit of data centers.
Rather, it’s the terms and timetable governing said pursuit that comprised most of their questions asked during a joint meeting of the Planning Commission and City Council.
More than one speaker noted that adjacent jurisdictions, such as Stafford County, have taken up to six months from initiating the public process to voting for a data center. By contrast, Fredericksburg’s city council first discussed a Technology Overlay District in detail on Dec. 10 and could vote on related resolutions and ordinances as early as its Feb. 25 meeting.
“Residents only have one and a half months to scramble and respond to what is being proposed,” city resident Sue Sargent said. “I’m concerned about fast-tracking on planning commission, council and local government decisions to ram this through. You’re intoxicated by the prospect of data centers.”
Mayor Kerry Devine addressed those concerns directly, saying that the city has gone to school on its neighbors’ recent efforts to attract and build data centers.
“We are moving at a very deliberate pace, because we have learned from the process that’s gone before us,” Devine said. “We have benefitted from prior information and projects. It has helped us move the project along.
“Then, there’s the matter of getting on ‘the list.’ If we move forward and we approve this [the TOD], there’s still a time lag as to when they would be built. If we come to the decision with the stipulations that our community and our staff make, there’s still a timeframe.”
Devine also revealed that she and Economic Development and Tourism Director Josh Summits have traveled to Richmond to speak to representatives from Dominion Energy, as well as state legislators in hopes of expediting the process.
Friends of the Rappahannock River Steward Brent Hunsinger noted various areas of collaboration between the environmental group and city staff and officials. Specifically, he noted that an update made prior to Wednesday’s session that explicitly prohibits developers from withdrawing water directly from the Rappahannock.
“That would be quite the cumbersome process and quite the show if someone were to try to do that,” Hunsinger said.
Max Steinbaum, a University of Mary Washington senior and president of Fredericksburg Trails Alliance (FredTrails), opined that a possible data center development in Celebrate Virginia South would compromise at least one trail, the “Epiphany Loop” and could affect others.
“I believe that fast-tracking a data center at this location feels like a step that minimizes this transition zone, making it less of a gradient and more of a distinct border between industrials and recreation land under perpetual conservation easement,” Steinbaum said.
If city officials are willing to engage, added Steinbaum, “please reach out, and we’re happy to take a hike with you.”
On Feb. 12, the Planning Commission will hold a public hearing on the Technology Overlay District before making its recommendation to City Council.
