2 Data Center Applications Head To Loudoun Board Of Supervisors, Staff Recommend Denial

LOUDOUN COUNTY, VA — While some data centers can be developed by right, rezoning and special exceptions may be required in some locations. County staff are recommending denial of two data center applications heading to the Loudoun County Board of Supervisors on July 10.

The first application concerns 28.92 acres at 42112 Hiddenwood Lane in Aldie. The applicant is seeking rezoning from countryside residential zoning to industrial park zoning for 756,024 square feet of data center.

As reported by Loudoun Times, residents on Hiddenwood Lane want to be able to sell their properties to data center development given that their homes have data center development all around them. However, Briarfield Estates residents believe the new data center proposal could do the same in creating data centers surrounding the neighborhood.

County staff recommended denial of the data center application. A county staff report on the data center application says noted the proposal doesn't fit with development or land use guidance of the Suburban Neighborhood Place Type in the county's 2019 general plan. The report also noted light and noise impacts that cannot be properly mitigated due to location near residential uses.

The Planning Commission voted 4-3 on the application, with one abstention and one absence. The commission recommended approval with conditions to lower building height, increase setbacks, add additional mechanical equipment testing limits to proffers, add more landscaping and make more site design commitments.

The second application named Innovation Gateway involves Shaw Road south of Old Ox Road in Sterling near the Town of Herndon border. The proposal calls for rezoning to allow 700,000 square feet of data center and 300 multifamily attached dwelling units in separate buildings. Along with rezoning, the applicant is requesting a special exception to increase density from a0.6 to 1 floor area ratio and zoning ordinance modifications for building height, setbacks, landscaping, pedestrian circulation, parking and zoning district size standards, and eliminating the town green and public space use requirements.

All 300 apartment units are proposed to be affordable housing through the Low Income Housing Tax Credit. three of the units would be offered to households making up to 30 percent of the area median income, five of the units would be for households with 50 percent of the area median income. Any additional units would be for households with up to 60 percent of the area median income. The 50 percent income limit in Loudoun County is $54,150 for one person and $77,350 for a household of four.

County staff are recommending the Board of Supervisors deny the application, saying it doesn't align with the urban transit center place type in the county's 2019 general plan and doesn't meet criteria in the zoning ordinance. The county staff report also notes the proposal isn't ready for action as the county attorney hasn't yet approved the application's proffers. The Planning Commission sent the proposal to the Board of Supervisors with a 5-2 vote recommending denial.

"The introduction of data center uses on the subject property is wholly inconsistent with the [Urban Transit Center] Place Type," a county staff report reads. "The incompatibility of the proposed data center use is further compounded by the requested [zoning modifications] which would reduce development standards, the effect of which is to allow increased scale, massing, and intensity of incompatible uses."

The Board of Supervisors' July 10 meeting starts at 6 p.m.