Board of Supervisors approves zMod and calls for guidelines on data centers

The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors approved zMod – for the second time – on May 9 and also approved a follow-on motion calling for guidelines on data centers.

zMod is a complete overhaul of the county’s 1978 zoning ordinance. The Board of Supervisors initially approved zMod two years ago. The state Supreme Court overturned it in March, stating that the board violated the open meetings law by approving it during a virtual meeting.

At the board hearing and a Planning Commission hearing last week, dozens of residents raised concerns about the zMod provisions making it easier to have accessory living units (ALUs) and home-based businesses (HBBs).

Related story: Planning Commission recommends approval of zMod despite widespread opposition

In the past two years, the fear that thousands of ALUs would be established and would destroy the character of single-family neighborhoods hasn’t panned out, said Supervisor James Walkinshaw (Braddock). Before zMod, homeowners had to spend thousands of dollars to go through the Board of Zoning Appeals, and most applications were approved anyway, he said. “zMod made people’s lives a little bit easier.”

The Supreme Court decision jeopardized proposals to invest in the community, added Supervisor Rodney Lusk (Franconia), as redevelopment applications were put on hold.

“The current, almost 50-year-old zoning ordinance doesn’t work for anyone,” said Board Chair Jeffrey McKay. It is hard to understand, and the age restriction for ALUs is discriminatory.

In response to complaints by residents that virtual meetings didn’t allow enough opportunities for feedback, he said, “drafts of zMod have been changed significantly by staff in response to public outreach.”

zMod is imperfect, McKay said, but it’s a vast improvement over the current zoning ordinance. If problems arise, it could be revised.  

The board passed zMod on a 9-0-1 vote on May 9, with Supervisor Pat Herrity (Springfield) abstaining.

The follow-on motion proposed by McKay calls for the county’s planning staff to draft guidelines on data centers as part of their Zoning Ordinance Work Program.

The 1978 zoning ordinance allowed data centers in residential districts by special exception and in commercial, industrial, and planned districts by right, the motion states.

zMOD eliminated the option for data centers in residential districts, most commercial districts, and many planned districts and added other restrictions related to size, cooling, and ventilation.

Many residents who spoke at the zMod hearings raised concerns about noise, environmental harms, and other issues if data centers are allowed in industrial areas near residential neighborhoods.

The motion directs staff to research potential environmental issues and research how the industry is mitigating those problems. It also calls for staff to develop guidelines on where data centers should be located and how they should be approved.

Guidelines on data centers need to be developed, McKay stated, because: “Gov. Youngkin has recently announced that $35 billion is being directed to develop data centers in Virginia. Data centers can be beneficial from a tax-base perspective and perhaps even a building repurposing perspective.”

Fairfax County has 11 data centers and five more in the pipeline, McKay noted. “The region continues to receive requests for more data centers due to our unique location related to the internet’s fiber infrastructure.”

The Planning Commission’s and Board of Supervisor’s land use committees will consider proposed guidelines on data centers at their June meetings.