Steve Watkins, ADVANCE EDITOR
PROTECT STAFFORD Data Center October Recap
October 1
Supervisor Deuntay Diggs hosted a town hall billed as a chance to discuss “schools, transportation and infrastructure, public safety, development, taxes and affordability, and whatever else is important to you.” George Washington District School Board member Susan Randall spoke about the impact of the pending sales tax measure slated for voters to consider on the November 7 ballot. After the school board presentation, the bulk of the remainder of the meeting focused on data center development in general, with a primary focus on the pending data center applications for Simms Farm, Forest Lane, Sisson North and South, all in Diggs’ George Washington district. Also in attendance was Supervisor Maya Guy. Diggs was joined by Peterson Companies’ Taylor Chess, Senior Managing Director of Development, who answered residents’ questions about the pending applications for nearly three hours.
October 7
The Stafford County Board of Supervisors voted 4-3 to approve the Accokeek Center data center project in the Falmouth district. Supervisors Evans, Allen, Diggs, and Guy vote to approve. Supervisors English, Vanuch, and Yeung voted to deny.
October 9
Just before midnight, the County’s Planning and Zoning Department staff reports for the four Kings Highway Corridor applications, collectively known as “the Assemblage,” were released to the public for review by the Planning Commission. Across the four project sites, the staff reports recommended denial of 10 of the 11 applications that were scheduled to come before the Planning Commission on October 14 of the following week.
October 12
On Monday afternoon, Stafford County announced the cancellation of the Wednesday, October 14 Planning Commission public hearing meeting for the Kings Highway Corridor Assemblage projects on their official Facebook page.
In the post the county stated that the hearing had been rescheduled for November 18 and that, “this additional time will allow for further review and refinement of several aspects of the applications to ensure the matter is fully prepared for consideration by the Planning Commission.”
October 14
On the heels of the public hearing’s cancellation, Supervisor Diggs announced what appeared to attendees to be a hastily scheduled joint town hall to address data center concerns with Falmouth district Supervisor Kecia Evans to be held on Sunday, October 18 on his official Facebook page.
The stated purpose of the town hall was to provide residents with “opportunity to ask questions directly and have an open conversation with their elected representatives” concerning data centers in Stafford County. The post rapidly garnered notable engagement with over 150 comments. Local media outlets picked up on the announcement.
SAFEGUARD SPOTSY
Upcoming Events
Planning Commission Meeting, Wednesday, October 2, 6 p.m., Holbert Building, 9104 Courthouse Road, Spotsylvania, VA. Work session on battery storage facilities with a presentation by Dominion, and REC.
https://spotsylvaniacova.portal.civicclerk.com/event/819/overview
On Our Radar
The Board of Supervisors will be voting on the Comprehensive Plan Update on October 27, 2026 at 6 p.m. More details to come.
The Planning Commission will be reviewing an apartment, hotel, and commercial complex rezoning application on Hood Drive on November 4, 2026. More details to come.
The Board of Supervisors will be holding a Public Hearing on the Crossroads Technology Campus in November. We will post once we have a date for the hearing. Crossroads is a 555-acre data center development in the Lee Hill District. More information about Crossroads can be found at www.safeguardspotsy.org.
The Scarlet Energy Battery Storage Facility will be coming up for a vote at the Planning Commission in the next couple of weeks. We will post once we have a date for the public hearing. Find more information about that project here: www.safeguardspotsy.org.