Hanover County’s board of supervisors unanimously rejected a proposed 131-acre data center park that would straddle the border between the county’s Beaverdam District and the town of Ashland.
The seven-member board shared multiple objections to the development — despite Ashland Town Council's October decision to approve the project’s rezoning request and a positive recommendation from Hanover’s planning commission in November.
Andrew Condlin, a lawyer for the project’s developers, spoke with supervisors Wednesday about the proposed development's complexity during a public meeting.
“I've got two different jurisdictions, two different property owners, two different ordinances and five different zoning categories,” Condlin told the board.
Reston-based real estate developer West Dulles Properties proposed the Iron Horse Business Park, currently multiple parcels located along the intersection of East Patrick Henry and Mount Hermon roads, just east of Interstate 95.
The project would be built around an industrial campus to house multiple data centers. Condlin said the property’s close proximity to Dominion Energy transmission lines make it an ideal candidate for supporting the continually expanding industry.
The proposal also calls for 49 single-family homes to be built on land owned by Harris & Douglas Properties LLC, which would retain ownership of the new residential subdivision.
Under current zoning rules, a mixed-use development could be constructed with up to 599 residential units and 335,200 square feet of retail and office space, according to county planning officials. But Condlin suggested that Hanover planners wanted the income stream that a data center would provide, requiring the industrial rezoning.
“We believe we could build the mixed use today,” Condlin said. “We could build 359 dwelling units and not build a single square foot of commercial … but I think the planning commission looked at that and said, ‘We want to make sure that there's revenue coming into the county and the town.’”
The developers prepared a fiscal impact analysis projecting up to 550 additional construction jobs and $115.7 million in economic output for Hanover during the two-year construction period. They also estimated an annual tax revenue increase of $16.5 million once the project’s first data center reaches its third year of operation.
The project would impact several significant environmental features in the county, including Mechumps Creek, a part of the county’s wetlands and floodplain.
Bob Nelson, of Ashland, raised concerns about the environmental impact of the project — as well as the strain on the state’s energy supply, as indicated in a recent study from the Joint Legislative Audit Review Committee. Nelson had previously criticized the county’s March decision to approve a 1,200-square-foot data center campus in the Beaverdam District.
“The board and Ashland have approved 2,700 megawatts for data centers,” Nelson told the board. “Where’s the power coming from? Not Hanover. No more data centers, deny the rezoning.”
Developers went through multiple iterations of the project to address concerns over power generation, obscured viewsheds and environmental impacts before Ashland approved it, but those measures weren’t enough for Hanover’s supervisors.
“At first glance this project looked pretty attractive,” Beaverdam District Supervisor Jeff Stoneman said. “But I really feel like a project like this is more of an industrial use [and] think this area is going to be too strained to accommodate this.”
The board unanimously approved Stoneman’s motion to deny the rezoning request. Condlin said the developers would consider whether to revise and resubmit their rezoning request or explore their options under the site’s existing zoning.
