Bren Mar Park residents urge the BoS to act against a by-right data center
Residents of Bren Mar Park are again fighting plans for a data center in their neighborhood.
In 2022, residents successfully mobilized against a rezoning proposal for a data center at Plaza 500, an industrial/business park at 6295 Edsall Road. Facing potential rejection, the developer, Starwood Capital Group, withdrew its application.
Half of the Plaza 500 property is zoned I-5, an industrial designation that allows data centers to be developed by-right. The other half is zoned I-3, which requires data centers to be subject to a public hearing and approval by the Board of Supervisors. In 2022, Starwood tried to have the entire site rezoned I-5.
The developer has now submitted a site plan for a by-right data center on the section of the property zoned I-5. The proposed two-story data center would be 466,000 square feet and 70 feet tall. Starwood is also proposing a massive electrical substation to serve the data center on the section zoned I-3.
Tyler Ray, president of the Bren Pointe Homeowners Association, says the data center would be 260 feet from some of the homes in the community, and the electrical substation would be less than 100 feet from some homes. That’s a lot closer to residential neighborhoods than the huge data center in Chantilly approved by the Board of Supervisors in January.
Related story: Residents oppose industrial rezoning
“I’m really concerned about the noise level,” says Bren Pointe resident and first-time homeowner Rebecca Gomez, who lives just 300 feet from Plaza 500 and has a clear view of it from her window.
Data centers produce over 92 decibels of sound on average. Gomez has a 5-week-old son and says, “I can’t imagine how having leaf-blower level sound constantly in our home will impact his development.”
Bren Pointe was developed just two years ago, and Gomez says the Board of Supervisors approved it knowing that a data center would be in the works. “It’s a really nice neighborhood with lots of young families, and now it’s threatened.”
A grassroots group called “Save Bren Mar from a Data Center” is urging the Board of Supervisors to change the data center development from a by-right project to one needing a zoning special exception.
Ray reached out to Starwood and its engineering firm and attorney to get more information, but found “the developer is notoriously difficult to communicate with.” In 2022, he says, they only met with the community when they were required to do so.
A draft study on data centers by Fairfax County planning staff issued in January recommends eliminating by-right development of data centers and requiring all such proposals to go through a zoning process. That means the Planning Commission and Board of Supervisors would have to conduct public hearings and the project couldn’t go forward unless it’s approved by the BoS.
The Board of Supervisor’s Land Use Committee is scheduled to discuss the “Data Center Report and Recommendations” on March 12.
Related story: County planners recommend more robust reviews of data centers
The presidents of six Bren Mar area HOAs – Bren Pointe, Overlook Foundation, Isabella at Monticello Mews, Jefferson Green, Ridges at Edsall, and Landmark Mews – sent an email to each member of the Board of Supervisors urging them to take immediate action to prevent the data center from being developed by-right.
Supervisor Kathy Smith (Sully), chair of the Land Use Committee, responded that it’s unlikely that could happen before the site plan is approved. The process to amend the Zoning Ordinance “is very rigorous and, even if expedited, takes several months to accomplish.”
“The review of a site plan is an administrative process that is subject to specific statutory timelines. While those timelines can vary slightly, the mandatory time for acting on an initial site plan submission is typically 60 days,” Smith wrote. “If the submitted plan meets all requirements, it must be approved.”
Mason Supervisor Andres Jimenez offered a similar response to an email from Bren Pointe resident Brian Sterling.
“I share your commitment to ensuring that any development aligns with the highest standards and takes into account the well-being of all Fairfax County residents. I am committed to promoting transparency, accountability, and community engagement on these matters,” Jimenez wrote on Feb. 23.
“In this circumstance, even if the board was to move forward with an authorization of an amendment to the Zoning Ordinance at a forthcoming meeting, it is highly unlikely that it could be adopted prior to the approval of the site plan,” Jimenez wrote. “The county is required to abide by our legal constraints.”
Related story: Board approves huge data center
Timothy Pendergrass, president of the HOA for the Ridges at Edsall townhomes, which is less than 100 feet from the proposed electrical substation, also reached out to the BoS.
In response, Board Chair Jeffrey McKay indicated that amending the Zoning Ordinance can’t be expedited, as that process is regulated by legal requirements and board policy. “This includes developing the proposal taking into account legal and policy implications, authorization of the amendment, community outreach and engagement, and advertised public hearings before the Planning Commission and the Board of Supervisors.”
“While the county is required to abide by our legal constraints,” McKay wrote. “I do remain committed to making sure that data centers that locate in Fairfax County meet the highest standards and believe that following the process that we use for amending our Zoning Ordinance is the correct vehicle for doing so.”
“He appears to be deaf to our ask and to any emergency action by the BoS,” Pendergrass says. “Guessing he would feel differently about his options if a data center were going to be built 200 feet from his own home.”
Residents say: “stop this because it will destroy our quality of life and our biggest investment- our homes.”
BoS says: “let me be clear; legal and corporate gibberish.”
‘Legal and corporate gibberish.’ I could agree with you somewhat on corporate gibberish, but legal? That’s the law, and thank goodness for it. Capriciously ignoring the law to appease an aggrieved group of people isn’t how it works. Work through the process, as overwrought as it is, and maybe you can change the law. Meantime, go data center.
Don’t be naive. The law, for the most part, used to be the law.
Now the law is avoided, ignored, weaponized, bent, and broken whenever it suits.
And McKay is acting very slippery.
What’s your point? Countless times the law becomes malleable, I agree. But in THIS CASE, both supervisors cite the current law and procedures and apply them as prescribed. For that I am grateful. But thank you for your behavioral assessment of a person you don’t know.
They are using “the law” as an excuse. Don’t fall for it.
The law in this case is the Zoning Ordinance, which the Board itself approved with zMOD. The Board has the sole power to change it.
The time frames are also imposed by law, but the law does not prohibit the Board from acting faster. The Board can comply with legal requirements with two weeks notice before a PC hearing and two weeks notice before a Board hearing. But they have now dithered. Directing the issue to a committee instead, which the law does not require.
Don’t allow politicians to use “the law” as a shield to avoid tough questions.
It’s legal to slaughter sheep. I can do it in my front yard. Do you agree with this statement?
Thank Goodness for slaughtering sheep in my front yard every morning as children drive by in the school bus.
Just because something is legal doesn’t make it right!
Terrible analogy. Development of a by-right use in an appropriate zone does not, and should not, require the BOS to shake up the development system that they’ve been following for a long time. How about you do some due diligence before making this most important investment of your life? A high intensity industrial zone in your backyard – what could possibly go wrong? No sympathy for these folks, but they have a losing case that it would be ridiculous for the BOS to step into. 100% of every case that goes before the Board would love to have it go faster. The supervisors have listened and they have made the right decision – go through the process like everyone else. The precedent this loser of a case would set isn’t close to being worth it. Go data center.
Terrible retort. I think Chuck’s point, that legality doesn’t equal morality, is spot on. You called it a terrible analogy and failed to explain why it’s terrible.
Maybe what they bought was all they could afford. Now the homeowners are worried about noise and pollution… and you have no sympathy? You seem to have a special interest in the data center moving forward, which is also why you’re not using your real name… because if you did, the integrity of everything you say would be immediately undercut, and rightfully so.
If by appropriate zone you mean where there is currently a church, a job assitance center, and a recently closed quiet lumber store and warehouse, then yes due dilligence was done! The majority of these homes were here before the county did zMOD which added data centers as an appropriate use. What do you say to them?
Did the supervisors also listen when they called for more stringent data center standards when approving the recent Chantilly data center at the end of January and put themselves on the record for protecting residents across the county?
Chairman Jeff McKay
“If we are going to do any data centers in Fairfax County, even if its one-fifth or one-tenth of what other people are going to do, the ones we do in this County are going to be done at the highest standard we can possibly foresee.”
“I will also support making sure that this is the standard on any data center that comes into Fairfax County, because frankly we need to be setting the nationwide standard on these. And I believe that we can do that and that’s what we asked for and this application will do that.”
“Our job is to do a land use analysis to look at this application and weigh at against what our standards are, question ourselves whether our standards are the highest in the Commonwealth and I would argue probably put them up against most in the nation in dealing with data centers. Are they at that standard? And they are. Does this application meet those standards? It does.”
“There are times where commitments are made through the land use process that people think will not be upheld. And that’s why I’m making sure not only we got some things on the record but also making sure that the proffers are so extensive. The proffers are legally binding. They exceed the zoning ordinance standard, The protections for noise for people related to this property are better than the protections for noise anybody else living around industrial properties in Fairfax County unless there’s a proffer like this in here. And most industrial cases don’t have that…There are some elements of the proffer here that most certainly exceed what our own county requirements are for industrial/commercial properties in other parts of the county. And for me that’s a bellwether for if we should make this change. Are we doing better than what our own zoning ordinance tells us that we need to be doing? And I think that this application does that.”
Vice-Chairman Kathy Smith (Sully District)
“Again, I really appreciate the public participation, that input helped to prompt real improvements to the application.”
“At this public hearing, at the Planning Commission hearing, in other community meetings and countless correspondence, we’ve heard concerns about noise, visual impact, energy demand, water quality, and the like. But we’ve also heard how thoroughly this applicant has addressed these concerns by submitting a more robust proffer package than any data center applicant has previously provided in this county.”
Supervisor Andres Jimenez (Mason District)
“I don’t think data centers should be anywhere near communities. I don’t think we’re going to turn Mason into a data center hub. The bigger longer-term picture is what do we do with data centers throughout Fairfax County.” (Source: Annandale Today, Supervisor Jimenez Wants to Make Mason District a Cultural Hub, Jan. 19, 2024.)
Supervisor James Walkinshaw (Braddock District)
“This is an issue that we really as a county have to get right.”
“We also have an opportunity to establish standards that are the highest in the Commonwealth if not the highest in the nation and I think the work of this application and the work that staff has done with our data center report put us on that path. I think as we move forward into the future we will be able to put in place standards that are even higher than what we are talking about today and that were in the data center report.”
“The challenge is if we can establish the highest standards here and hold data centers to those standards we can do better than other places where they would be build if they were not built here.”
“This case meets all of our existing standards and meets all of the higher standards that we are likely to consider in the years to come.”
Supervisor James Bierman, Jr. (Dranesville District)
“What message would it send that we’re accepting a data center without stuff from the data center report? But I got news for you, there’s a lot of proffers here, there’s a lot here with this data center that matches this report.”
“The report here says you should work on water treatment and consider water treatment before it goes in your watershed. Do we proffer about water treatment? We do. There’s something in here about proffers based on lower noise requirements. We’ve already been over that. We proffered lower noise requirements. There was literally something in here about a post-construction noise study and we’ve got that right here as well.”
“We asked and we got a lot out of this applicant to make this a responsible plan.”
Supervisor Walter Alcorn (Hunter Mill District)
“I’d encourage staff to move quickly on this and, frankly, if there are things that are ready to move before the end of the year [2023], I would suggest that they do that,” Alcorn said. “This is a moving target . . . This technology is changing. The practices are changing, so there may be some things that we would need to do even sooner than the end of the year.” (Source: Gazette Leader, Fairfax leaders aim to stay ahead of curve on data centers, May 12, 2023)
Supervisor Daniel Storck (Mount Vernon District)
“Recognize where data centers should and shouldn’t be. Recognize the ability to put them in industrial centers. I think that’s why we’ve created that opportunity and option. I think even some commercial places it’s appropriate. Obviously where it’s not is areas that are at residential locations.”
“I want to support that need [of data centers] but I want to do it in a way that minimizes its impact because every time you do a data center, every time you do a major construction like this there is an impact.”
Supervisor Pat Herrity (Springfield District)
“It comes before the board has been able to discuss and issue our guidance on data centers.”
“Springfield garage looms over the neighboring church and as I drive by that thing and look at what we did to that church it bothers me what we’re going to do here and it’s out of character with that area in the county.”
Its unfortunate for the folks that are impacted by this facility, but Virginia and Fairfax land use regulations are very specific when it comes to by-right usage. A by-right use is not beholden to any vestment process through the county; the only requirement is to follow the rules related to site planning, which does not require input from neighbors. For the BOS to step in and stop this would likely result in a huge lawsuit by the developer and would cost the county a lot of money and deter future development in other by-right locations. It is possible for residents to review the site plan, where they can double check the required setbacks, landscape screening, and other issues specific to development in the subject zone are met. Also there are limits on decibels of noise and hours when the noise is regulated which must be met. Seems like that could be a path to take in the short term.
More unwillingness to act on behalf of residents from our Board of Supervisors. They always have reasons why they can’t act. True leaders find ways to make things happen in order to properly represent their constituents.
Well said. Too often, county officials hide behind rules, regulations and lawyers to benefit business interests and to avoid efforts to genuinely help their constituents.
Our community trusted Chairman McKay when he said: “If we are going to do any data centers in Fairfax County, even if its one-fifth or one-tenth of what other people are going to do, the ones we do in this County are going to be done at the highest standard we can possibly foresee.”
and
“I will also support making sure that this is the standard on any data center that comes into Fairfax County, because frankly we need to be setting the nationwide standard on these. And I believe that we can do that and that’s what we asked for and this application will do that.”
We believe the Chairman to be a person of his word and trust that he will fulfill this commitment to his constituents by having the board take immediate action to amend the zoning ordinance and require a special exception for data centers before this site plan goes into effect.
Hear the Chairman in his own words: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b_j0SzKPPr8
I am very naive about all this–but it is for sure I would not want to be living near one. I heard you speak at the MDC meeting the other night. Like I said I am naive — and I am not sure about all the locations. I believe the other night you mentioned ‘Landmark’. If BenMar and the ‘hospital’ to be where ‘Landmark’ was could there be negatives with the data center being near the ‘hospital’? Could that be another path to take, having a data center near a hospital?
Bren Pointe was a by right development. There was no BOS approval of it as quoted by one of the residents.
Actually, the BOS did approve it see PCA 74-5-158-03.
Unlike in this case where there will not be a public hearing or approval by the BOS or Planning Commission.
Thanks for your comment “Accurate”
How many people voted in this neighborhood? If you didn’t vote then don’t go away mad, just go away and vote next election. If you’re really mad then organize others and help get them to vote next election as well. It’s the closest thing to a civil mob in today’s democratic system – almost a novelty theses days. LOL!
There in fact was a candidate who specifically ran with the platform of ensuring residents had a voice in data center decisions and they won the highest percentage of votes in the Bren Mar precinct (where the data center is) receiving over 65% of the vote. This is the highest precinct win by percentage for all the precincts in the Mason Supervisor race. Turnout at the precinct also increased 230% compared to the last competitive primary in 2015. This shows that pro-community message resonated.
It remains to be seen if Sup. Jimenez will listen to the concerns of this determined community.
I’m sympathetic but how is a data center going to ruin their quiet neighborhood? Every time I see Bren Mar Park in print it’s because some crime has been committed.
I agree we dont want it in our neighborhood. I dont want my health impacted by this.
Data centers do not belong anywhere near a neighborhood. Shame on the FC board members who voted in favor of this.