Amended Belmont Data Center Proposal Approved In Loudoun

ASHBURN, VA — A downsized data center campus proposal in the Belmont area of Ashburn was approved 6-3 by the Loudoun County Board of Supervisors Wednesday. The board previously voted against a larger-scale proposal.

Votes against the downsized proposal came from Chair Phyllis Randall, Algonkian District Supervisor Juli Briskman and Little Run District Supervisor Laura TeKrony.

The proposal rejected by the board on March 13 called for 2.9 million square feet of data center and 989,000 of industrial uses on 111.7 acres south of Route 7 and west of Belmont Ridge Road in Ashburn. However, 1.3 million square feet can be developed by right even with the board's action.

Ashburn District Supervisor Michael Turner had brought the revised data center application to the board. Turner said the original proposal 18 months ago called for 4.9 million square feet. After the board's March 13 rejection of the application, the applicant reduced the square footage from 2.9 million square feet of data center to 1.3 million square feet and kept increased buffers between the buildings and the Goose Creek and an open space park with pedestrian trails and sidewalks.

Other changes include removing one proposed substation adjacent to the Russell Branch Parkway extension, removing a proffer for low noise emission cooling fans, removing plans for solar panels for data center buildings, removing a Goose Creek Park pavilion and removing a $20,000 contribution for a Goose Creek Park kayak or canoe launch.

Although the applicant could have proceeded with the by-right application, getting board approval means the applicant can bypass a six-month administrative permitting process and start construction.

Turner said he understands data centers' needs to meet demand but says further growth in Loudoun County needs to be controlled.

"For Loudoun County, the largest data center density on the planet Earth...the problem is the data centers. It's the fossil fuel they consume, it's the overhead transmission lines that they're putting over our schools and our neighborhoods," said Turner. "It's that growth and we have an obligation to our citizens to do everything we can to get our arms around that growth for this point forward."

Randall said the proposal was "a good application for a data center if we have to have a data center here" and that some data centers work well with the county. But she voted against the proposal as a "message vote" to other data centers for not working as closely with the county.

"What we get often is vote for this data center or we're going to build it by right, and it's going to be crappy. That is not how that's supposed to happen," said Randall. "At this moment, we need to come back to the table and have these discussions, and again, I'm taking responsibility for that myself."