Loudoun Supervisors Request Legal Analysis Of Closing Data Center Development Loophole

ASHBURN, VA – Loudoun County’s Board of Supervisors voted unanimously on Tuesday to ask county staff to analyze whether and how the county could legally close a final loophole allowing some data centers to be built without public hearings and a board vote, and to bring the results to the Oct. 6 board business meeting.

The action advances an initiative introduced by Supervisors Juli Briskman (D-Algonkian) and Laura TeKrony (D-Little River) to end the county's 2025 Data Center Grandfathering Resolution, which exempted some projects from the regulations the county updated that year.

Loudoun County Overhauls Data Center Approval Process

In March 2025, the Loudoun County Board of Supervisors updated the county’s comprehensive plan and zoning ordinance to end by-right data center approval. In areas where approval had been by-right – meaning applications could be approved with just a staff-level review – data centers were reclassified as a "special exception" use, requiring public hearings and a board vote.

However, the board also voted to allow applications received before February 2025 to continue under the old administrative process. It’s these “grandfathered” projects that Briskman and TeKrony hope to bring under the county’s new, stricter data center approval process. The legal analysis will assess whether the county can end that grandfathering.

Initiative Sponsors Disappointed

Briskman and TeKrony noted in a release issued Wednesday that the final motion adopted by the board on Tuesday removed a directive for staff to also come to the meeting with a drafted amendment to end the grandfathering resolution already prepared.

As a result, even if the legal analysis finds that the grandfathering resolution can be ended, any action by the board is likely to be delayed beyond the Oct. 6 meeting.

In the release, Briskman and TeKrony expressed disappointment.

“We’ve given the data center industry 25 years to build by-right. There is no legal requirement for grandfathering. It is a choice,” TeKrony said. “I am disappointed that we will not have an amended resolution to approve on October 6. When the item comes back to the Board, I will be pushing for an expiration date as soon as possible.”

According to Briskman and TeKrony, 17 administrative data center applications are currently in review and have been identified as grandfathered under the 2025 resolution. They represent approximately 11 million square feet of development and each project is likely to include multiple buildings.