Amazon Can't Build Data Centers On Ashburn Campus Without Board Approval: Zoning Chief

ASHBURN, VA – Amazon won’t be able to build new data centers on a former George Washington University campus without approval from the Loudoun County Board of Supervisors, according to a new report.

Loudoun Now reports that Loudoun County Zoning Administrator Theresa Miller told the board during their Tuesday meeting that Amazon will need explicit permission to build data centers on the former Ashburn campus.

The property is located within the Route 28 Tax District, a special tax overlay that allowed properties within it to continue under a flexible 1972 zoning ordinance rather than later updates. It was created to pay for improvements to Route 28 infrastructure – payments which will be complete in December.

The 1972 zoning ordinance was understood to allow data centers to be developed by-right, with only staff-level approval and no public hearings or votes, following a 2000 Zoning Administrator advisory opinion that equated data center development to "office uses." In July 2026, however, the county’s zoning administrator issued a revised advisory opinion finding that data centers are not permitted as a principal or primary use under the 1972 Zoning Ordinance.

The outlet explains that, according to Miller, data processing services are only permissible as secondary or subordinate components of other principal uses in the relevant zoning district.

Some parts of Amazon’s property are also subject to further restrictions put in place by the county when it was acquired by the university, limiting its use to processes needed by an institute of higher learning, Miller said. Any changes to those covenants would also require board approval.

County Attorney Leo Rogers said he agreed that both the 1972 zoning ordinance rules and the additional regulations attached to some areas of the campus mean Amazon would have to get board approval before building data centers on the property, according to the report.

In July, Amazon applied to build more than 800,000 feet of data center complexes on the 122-acre site it bought in March.

See more from Loudoun Now here.