Loudoun Economic Development Director Questions Decades-Old Data Center Ordinance: Report

ASHBURN, VA – Loudoun County authorities might soon reconsider a 26-year-old zoning ruling that paved the way for the current data center boom, according to a report by Loudoun Now.

According to Loudoun Now, Loudoun County Executive Director of Economic Development Buddy Rizer has written to the county’s zoning authorities to ask whether a ruling from February 2000, before data centers were really understood, remains in effect or whether it has been superseded by other zoning changes.

The report notes that the 2000 ruling decided that data centers were most similar to offices and should be allowed anywhere the county would allow offices. Two decades later, a new crop of elected officials is drawing different conclusions.

Rizer has asked zoning authorities to weigh in on the standing of that old ordinance and what provision of current zoning ordinances should determine how data centers are classified, according to the outlet.

Read more from Loudoun Now here.