Virginia County Limits New Data Center Development

After more than a year of debate, the Fairfax County, Va., Board of Supervisors passed a new zoning ordinance restricting where data centers can be built. 

The board this week voted 8-2 to approve the ordinance, which aims to address community concerns about noise, proximity to residential communities and the design of the facilities themselves. 

In some districts, new facilities will be limited to 80,000 square feet. Specific provisions of the ordinance mandate that developers build data center projects at least 200 feet from residential areas (or 500 feet for equipment mounted to the ground, such as generations or substations), and a minimum distance of a mile from any Metro stations. New rules also enhance screening requirements for noise and eyesore reduction, and developers must procure noise studies before site plan approval. 

The ordinance however does allow data center projects already under development before July to continue under the county’s previous rules. 

Data center development has become a hot-button issue in Northern Virginia due to the sheer number of projects popping up in the region and the scale of the facilities. The public hearing on Sept. 10, when the ordinance was approved, lasted nearly five hours due to public comments, virtually the same as a similar meeting held by the county in July. Opinions range from those believing that the regulations are too restrictive, and not business-friendly, to others who argued that they do not go far enough. 

Yet the 3 million square feet of data centers already in Fairfax County pale in comparison to that of nearby Prince William County, which has 8 million square feet, and that of Loudoun County, which has 30 million square feet, Board of Supervisors Chairman Jeff McKay told local news station WJLA. Loudoun County lawmakers advanced their own legislation this summer to restrict data center development, aiming to eliminate “by-right” zoning, meaning that each project there would have to be individually approved by the county. 

“For me, it’s unacceptable to not have specific language in our zoning ordinance dealing with data centers, knowing what’s happened in Prince William and Loudoun,” McKay told WJLA.

Nick Trombola can be reached at ntrombola@commercialobserver.com.