Developers wanting to put data centers in certain parts of Stafford County won’t face stricter zoning regulations after a Board of Supervisors’ vote Tuesday night.
The supervisors voted 4-3 to turn down a proposed zoning ordinance amendment that would have required data center developers to obtain a conditional-use permit for projects in parts of the county zoned for heavy industrial use. Currently, data centers can be built on such parcels without receiving permit approval from the supervisors.
The zoning change would have meant additional county control over some data center projects, which can be controversial. Data center opponents often worry about how much water and electricity the facilities use, as well as about how much noise they make.
Data centers, where large amounts of computer data are stored, also generate lots of tax revenue, which makes them attractive to local governments.
The supervisors who voted against the zoning change Tuesday indicated they didn’t want to send the message that they don’t want data centers in the county.
“Just as some people might say they have a mandate not to raise taxes, I have a mandate to generate economic development,” said board Vice Chairwoman Tinesha Allen, who voted in the majority with board Chairman Deuntay Diggs, Aquia District Supervisor Monica Gary and Hartwood District Supervisor Darrell English.
The supervisors’ vote came after a joint public hearing on the matter with the Planning Commission, which also took its own vote. Commissioners had voted 4-2 to recommend the board make the zoning change. Commissioner Carlos Bratton, who represents the Griffis-Widewater District, was absent from the meeting.
Commissioner Kristen Barnes of the Rock Hill District said that requiring CUPs for data centers shouldn’t be seen as the county saying it doesn’t want that kind of development.
“CUPs protect the best interest of the community around the data centers, it protects the best interest of the county as a whole and just because we are protecting our best interest does not mean that we are not interested in having data centers. I think it means quite the opposite,” Barnes said.
During the public hearing, Falmouth resident Alane Callander said data centers — which are typically large buildings — could ruin the view from some county homes.
“There are different things that come to my mind as to what we could ask of data center developers, such as landscaping,” Callander said. “I don’t care if you’re in a manufacturing zone or what zoning you’re in, it’s always good to landscape around the buildings so that anybody driving by might not have to look at an ugly building and instead can see trees.”
Those comments, though, didn’t sway Gary and her three colleagues.
“I think that we actually really need to be working to repair some relationships that we have with the business community and data centers,” she said. “I think there’s been some harm done in a few things that we’ve done over a long span of time now and that’s concerning, so I’m glad that we still have these opportunities.”
If there was harm done, however, Charlie Payne, an attorney for several data center clients, didn’t show it after the supervisors’ vote. Outside the meeting, he said he was encouraged by the action.
“The data center industry is very excited about current and future investment in Stafford County, and the board just reaffirmed its commitment to attract data centers to the county,” he said.
