This article was republished with permission from 海角精品黑料鈥檚 news partner . Sign up for
This article was written by 海角精品黑料鈥檚 news partner聽聽and republished with permission. Sign up for聽听迟辞诲补测.
Opponents of the PW Digital Gateway remain steadfast in their fight against the sprawling data center proposal.
A cadre of activists gathered outside Bull Run Middle School in Manassas on Tuesday to protest an open house held by Texas-based Compass Datacenters, one of the Digital Gateway鈥檚 major developers.
The Prince William Board of County Supervisors approved general plans for the 2,139-acre data center development along Pageland Lane in November. But because the individual projects must receive rezoning approvals from the county before any construction can begin, opponents hope there is still time to stop it from moving forward.
鈥淛ust because they passed the Comprehensive Plan amendment doesn鈥檛 mean this is a done deal,鈥� said Bill Wright, a Heritage Hunt resident.
While the Compass open house was intended to provide citizens with detailed information about the project, several attendees arrived to express their disapproval of the application.
鈥淭onight鈥檚 event hosted by Compass Datacenters is not about opportunity or community service or partnership. It鈥檚 not even about additional financial resources 鈥� unless those are the enormous profits of the richest corporate entities ever in the history of mankind,鈥� said Kath Kulick, vice chair of the HOA Roundtable of Northern Virginia.
The Board of Supervisors鈥� 5-2 vote along party lines to amend the county鈥檚 Comprehensive Plan in November allowed the project to move forward and signaled its likely final approval.
The vote came after a more than nine-hour public hearing and a roughly 14-hour meeting, during which 254 people signed up to speak. Public opinion was almost evenly divided between supporters and opponents of the project.
But opponents who spoke at the hearing, many from the Heritage Hunt community in Gainesville adjacent to the data center complex, have continued to attend county meetings and other events, urging local and state elected officials to halt the project.
What鈥檚 next?
The board鈥檚 decision modifies the land designations in the Comprehensive Plan from agricultural/estate and environmental resource to technology/flex, parks and open space, county-registered historic site and environmental resource overlay.
The Comprehensive Plan amendment establishes guidelines for the overall development of the Gateway project but does not address specific construction plans.
The proposal encompassing the QTS and Compass data centers is still undergoing staff review, in which county planners go back and forth with the applicants over their plan.
The proposal specifies that the data center and electric substations will be located outside of the data center opportunity overlay district, which means a special-use permit will also be required. But Compass has requested the county waive this requirement, which Wright argues may be grounds for the county to object to the proposal due to a lack of transparency.
鈥淸The developers] don鈥檛 want to tell you what they鈥檙e going to do because it would be objectionable. So they鈥檙e trying to get the waiver first and then they say, 鈥極h, well now since it鈥檚 waived, here, we鈥檙e gonna do all this stuff.鈥� So this is why we鈥檙e protesting. I don鈥檛 trust those guys as far as I can throw a piano,鈥� Wright said.
While the waiver has been submitted, staff acknowledged the proposal 鈥渓acks detailed layout of the site鈥� and 鈥渋s too general and does not provide sufficient details.鈥�
Eventually, the proposal will go to the county鈥檚 Planning Commission, but as of yet no date is set for it to do so.
鈥淲e had our second submission and we met with the applicants to go over our comments,鈥� County Planning Manager Alex Vanegas said. 鈥淲e鈥檙e waiting for the applicants to submit their third submission, which addresses our comments from the second round.鈥�
鈥楾he midst of an industrial jungle鈥�
Many of the same concerns citizens addressed at the November public hearing were echoed by nearby residents at Tuesday鈥檚 open house.
Bobbie Kelly, who lives on Fieldstone Way, told InsideNoVa she moved to Prince William from Centreville in 2012 but is concerned she may have to move again because of the noise, visual disturbance and pollution the complex may cause.
鈥淚 have heart issues. I have hearing issues. So it’s going to affect me,鈥� Kelly said. 鈥淭hey鈥檙e putting all this potentially hazardous stuff right across the street.鈥�
Despite a tree buffer, Kelly says she can still see the top of the data centers owned by one of the other major data center developers, QTS, from her property.
鈥淨TS keep claiming that the trees are going to buffer, and they鈥檙e not because they put the cooling equipment on top of the buildings. So unless the trees are 150 feet high, they鈥檙e not going to buffer anything,鈥� Kelly said.
Gainesville resident Kara Klass, a mother of two, also voiced her concerns about the Digital Gateway development near her home. She shares Kelly鈥檚 anxiety about pollution from the generators but also noted the potential impact on the area鈥檚 wetlands, wildlife and historic resources.
鈥淏ut here鈥檚 the truth. The rest of us, the little guys, we鈥檙e going to be left living in the midst of an industrial jungle of concrete buildings completely surrounded right here in what was formerly known as the rural crescent,鈥� Klass told a group of protesters outside Bull Run Middle School Tuesday. 鈥淎nd it will inevitably be abandoned due to technological obsolescence. That鈥檚 going to be left there for Big Tech companies 鈥� and we will be left with a permanent physical scar on this community.鈥�
Developer鈥檚 take
Chris Curtis, senior vice president of acquisitions and development for Compass, argued many of the statements made by opponents 鈥渕ay not be accurate鈥� and that some of the concerns shared by citizens are due to misinformation about the project.
鈥淚 think there鈥檚 been a lot of fear of the unknown or not knowing what it鈥檚 going to be. And so that鈥檚 really the purpose tonight, is to allow the community to come in, see it, touch it, feel it, and understand, you know, the positive benefits to the community and all the things we鈥檙e doing,鈥� Curtis told InsideNoVa.
Curtis addressed some of these concerns at Tuesday鈥檚 open house, noting that the nearest building would be 1,600 feet from the closest residence.
鈥淎nd we鈥檝e proven through a view shed analysis that you really won鈥檛 see these buildings from any of those viewpoints,鈥� he said.
