Planning Commission recommends zoning changes for data centers

The Fairfax County Planning Commission on June 6 recommended approval of a more restrictive zoning ordinance on data centers.

Commissioners approved several amendments that address some of the concerns raised by residents and environmental groups at a five-hour hearing the previous evening.

About 50 people testified at the hearing, including residents of Bren Mar Park who spoke about the need for tougher standards to reduce the environmental impact of Starwood Capital’s proposed by-right data center at Plaza 500.  

Residents and environmental advocates urged the Planning Commission to require all data center proposals to go through a more stringent special exception process which would require a public hearing.

The amendment endorsed by the Planning Commission doesn’t do that. It retains the provisions recommended in a staff report to allow data centers by right in certain commercial and industrial districts unless they exceed size, height, or other standards.

Setback concerns

The zoning ordinance proposed by county planning staff would allow a data center as close as 200 feet from residences.

The planning commission unanimously approved an amendment by Mary Cortina (Braddock) to require any equipment, such as generators, to be at least 500 feet from residences.

The data center itself could be within 200 feet of residences but the equipment would have to be on the side of the building facing an industrial area. A development proposal for a lesser distance would have to go through a special exception.

“The bulk of the data center itself would help shield the noise from the generators,” Cortina said. “It makes good common sense to locate that equipment away from the residential side.”

Projects in the pipeline

The Board of Supervisors is scheduled to make a final decision on the zoning amendment on July 16. The amendment would take effect the day following adoption.

Candice Bennett (at-large) offered an amendment stating that any data center proposal in the pipeline that has submitted a site plan and building permit for review could continue under the old zoning ordinance as long as approval is granted within six months.

Related story: Bren Mar Park residents urge the BoS to act against a by-right data center

Cortina then offered a substitute amendment, that was approved, to require data center proposals previously submitted for review, but not approved, to go through the new zoning ordinance.

There are currently four or five by-right data center applications pending review, including the Plaza 500 project. The old zoning amendment would continue to apply to applications already approved, such as the huge data center in Chantilly.

Cortina noted that the Board of Supervisors had called for the zoning amendment process to be expedited so it could be implemented before a slew of by-right proposals come in.

Distance from Metro

The staff report recommends prohibiting data centers within half a mile of a Metro station. The Planning Commission approved an amendment by Jeremy Hancock (Providence) to extend that to one mile. It was approved unanimously

Several people who testified at the hearing said a full mile is need to ensure that development in urban areas near transit is compatible with pedestrian activity and active street fronts. A data center developer could still apply for a zoning special exception for a project within one mile of Metro.

Concerns were also raised at the hearing about the need for more stringent environmental protections. Deputy Zoning Administrator Carmen Bishop told the Planning Commission that state and federal agencies, not the county, are responsible for setting standards on generators and related issues.

Following the commission’s vote, Cortina said the amended zoning ordinance would “direct data centers to the most appropriate areas. They are only allowed in certain industrial and commercial districts.”

“Our job is to listen to all the interests and balance what’s best for the county – economic benefits and job growth, as well as quality of life for residents. This balances all of these issues,” said Alis Wang (Mason).

“The key issue, is we are protecting residents from onerous equipment noise,” said Planning Commission chair Phillip Niedzielski-Eichner (at-large).

The industry view

At the hearing, about 15 people who work with or represent the data center industry urged the Planning Commission not to recommend stricter regulations.

Daren Shumate, a former planning commissioner from Mason District and the owner of an engineering company that designs data centers, said the use of newer technology can reduce noise and potential water pollution.

John Roddy, a contractor, called the proposed amendment “unreasonable and excessive.” Others in the industry cited the increased tax revenue data centers can generate without adding to traffic or school crowding. Labor union representatives pointed to the potential for job growth.

Environmental impacts

Environmental organization leaders countered that the negative impacts of data centers on air and water quality, health, and livable communities outweigh the economic benefits.

“Zoning changes we make today have decades-long consequences,” said Rene Grebe of Nature Forward. Every data center should have to go through the special exception process until there is more transparency on water consumption and environmental impacts, she said.

Cynthia Shang, president of the Pleasant Valley community in Chantilly noted that the data center approved near her community included proffers requiring less-polluting generators and noise reductions only because it went through a special exception. A by-right project wouldn’t have those kinds of protections.

Data centers do not belong near nature and people, said Whitney Redding of Friends of Holmes Run, noting the by-right Plaza 500 project in Bren Mar Park would be close to Turkeycock Run, as well as residences. “It’s the county’s responsibility to protect its watersheds.”

Related story: Climate activists speak out against unchecked data centers

“Climate change is an existential threat,” said Ann Bennett of the Sierra Club. Data centers use an enormous amount of energy from coal plants, thus threatening the county’s sustainability goals.

Several people said data centers should be 1,000 feet, not 200 feet, from people’s homes and raised concerns about the large transmission line proposed for the Plaza 500 project that would run within the 200-foot buffer between the data center and the community.

Timothy Pendergrass, president of the Ridges of Edsall HOA, said he worries about the impact of the excessive noise and lights from the Plaza 500 project on his family’s health and peace of mind.

In response to the testimony from the data center industry, he said, “If they are so environmentally friendly and aesthetically pleasing as we heard here today, there should be no opposition to special exceptions.”

Bren Pointe HOA president and a leader of the Save Bren Mar coalition, called for stronger guardrails than what’s in the staff report. By-right data centers should not be allowed anywhere, he said. The industry claims they can address the environmental issues, but “we are the experts of our communities.”