Fredericksburg Planning Commission and City Council Work on Crafting a Technology Overlay District Ordinance
First of two joint work sessions took place Tuesday evening
By Adele Uphaus
MANAGING EDITOR AND CORRESPONDENT
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Fredericksburg City staff estimate that the annual tax revenue from a data center in the city could be $59.4 million—a number that represents about half the city’s total annual budget, Councilor Jason Graham pointed out.
At the same time, if a zoning map amendment permitting data centers as a by right use on certain parcels isn’t written carefully and comprehensively, such development could be detrimental to the city’s water supply and renewable energy commitments, other members of the Planning Commission and City Council warn.
“We should say what we want [developers] to do, rather than saying what they can’t do,” Commissioner David Durham said Tuesday, during a joint work session between the two bodies. “In exchange for a by-right entitlement, you set a requirement.”
Tuesday was the first of four public meetings City Council and the Planning Commission will hold to discuss creating a technology overlay district, which would “[promote] the development of technology centers in areas of the City where existing or new infrastructure could adequately support” such use, according to the draft ordinance.
Staff propose applying the overlay district to nine parcels of land off Gordon Shelton Boulevard, adjacent to Seasons apartments and an assisted living facility. The technology overlay district would include the two parcels of land owned by entities of the Silver Companies that were to be the site of the Neon mixed-use development.
The underlying zoning is Planned Development Commercial and the future land use according to the Comprehensive Plan is workplace, general urban, suburban, and preserved open space.
The overlay district would apply to a minimum of 75 contiguous acres—a reduction from the 150-acre minimum staff first proposed—and would allow data centers as a primary by-right use, along with colleges, universities, vocational or trade schools, research and development, light manufacturing, and major and minor utilities.
None of these uses “shall be permitted to permanently utilize potable water for industrial cooling,” the proposed ordinance states. This would not apply to drinking water or sanitation or for “an agreed temporary potable water industrial cooling usage until an industrial reuse water cooling system is/was constructed and extended to the subject property.”
Durham said he would prefer the overlay ordinance to state more explicitly what water source developers can use for cooling. Other council and Planning Commission members questioned whether a developer could seek a permit from the Department of Environmental Quality to withdraw water from the Rappahannock River.
The overlay district would regulate noise emissions, stating that noise from the data center, as measured from the boundary of the property, would have to stay below a maximum of 60 decibels—the equivalent of a conversation—between 7 a.m. and midnight, and below a maximum of 55 decibels—equivalent to the hum of a refrigerator—at night.
Durham said the ordinance should require that emergency backup generators—one of the main sources of noise produced by data centers—be situated on the opposite side of a building from the nearby residential developments.
He also said that the “goal should not be 60 and 55 decibels, it should be less.”
Councilor Jason Graham said the time frame for the 60-decibel maximum should be reduced from midnight to 10 or 9 p.m., and others agreed.
Buildings within the overlay district can be a maximum of 90 feet tall, which Durham pointed out is higher than surrounding localities allow. Mike Craig, planning department director, said this is because Fredericksburg is “working with a smaller area” than surrounding localities and is trying to “make the best use of the space we have.”
The ordinance requires buildings in the overlay district to be setback 200 feet when adjacent to a residential zoning district, 150 feet when adjacent to a planned development zoning district, and 100 feet when adjacent to a commercial or industrial zoning district.
Durham noted that there are residential uses within the adjacent planned developments and that there could be 90-foot building standing 150 feet from a residential building.
“We’re defining setbacks based on zoning district, not use,” he said. “That seems wrong.”
Craig said staff could take a look at this.
Durham asked whether the overlay district ordinance could require developers to use power purchase agreements to purchase renewable electricity, and Councilor Will Mackintosh also asked whether the city should “set a more aggressive goal” for developers’ use of green energy.
Councilor Jon Gerlach noted that once City Council approves a technology overlay district, proposals from data center developers will be approved administratively by staff without Council oversight, unless a special use permit is requested.
“That’s why it’s so critical to get this right,” he said.
City Council and the Planning Commission will hold a second joint meeting on January 22 in Council Chambers, at which there will be an opportunity for the public to provide input on the technology overlay district between 5:30 and 7:30 p.m.
There will also be public hearing before the Planning Commission on February 12 and before City Council on February 25.
This story has been updated to clarify the nature of the January 22 joint meeting.
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