Motions Filed This Week in Amazon Data Services v. King George County
A trial is scheduled for September 28-29, 2026.
By Adele Uphaus
MANAGING EDITOR AND CORRESPONDENT
Email Adele
Trial dates of September 28 and 29 have been set in the lawsuit between Amazon Data Services (ADS) and the King George County Board of Supervisors.
ADS filed the petition last spring, appealing a March 2024 decision by the county Board of Zoning Appeals. In that decision, the BZA upheld County Administrator Matthew Smolnik’s decision not to issue a determination finding that Amazon has vested rights in the 893-acre former Birchwood Power Plant.
In 2023, King George supervisors approved a 7-million square foot data center campus on the parcel, but the following year, the new Board pulled out of the agreement and began considering rezoning the land back to agricultural.
ADS’s appeal asks the Circuit Court to decide that the BZA’s decision was incorrect, that Smolnik should have opined on the zoning determination request, and that the company does have vested rights in the parcel.
Both parties were in court this week for a hearing on motions entered last month. ADS, represented by Jaimie Wisegarver with the firm Hirschler-Fleischer, filed a motion on April 20 asking the court to enter a pretrial scheduling order.
The draft order requested would require the respondent—the Board of Supervisors, represented by County Attorney Richard Stuart, who is also a State Senator—to file an answer to ADS’s appeal by June 1, 2026, or 30 days after the end of the General Assembly’s April 23 special legislative session, and to complete all discovery and depositions by July 1, 2026.
On January 6, Circuit Court Judge Bruce Strickland entered a pretrial scheduling order that required discovery to be completed by April 3, 2026. At that time, the trial was scheduled for May 4-5, 2026.
On January 13, according to the motion, Stuart wrote to ADS’s counsel invoking his right to a 30-day continuance as a member of the General Assembly, as granted by Virginia Code. At the county’s request, ADS asked for the trial to be rescheduled to September, to which the court agreed, but ADS still expected discovery to be complete by mid-April.
According to the motion filed April 20, the county has “to date” not filed a response to the initial appeal or to the request for discovery. Stuart again invoked his right to a continuance early last month due to the April 23 special legislative session.
Stuart, on behalf of the county, filed a motion on April 24 for a reconsideration of Strickland’s January 6 pretrial scheduling order.
“The County did not agree to the pretrial scheduling order because it included provisions for discovery,” the motion states. It argues that Virginia Code did not intend for discovery to be allowed in a case seeking judicial review of a lower court or agency’s decision.
The Circuit Court has not yet ruled on the two motions argued this week.
Hirschler-Fleischer is an FXBG Advance donor.
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I cannot begin to fathom the legalities involved here and the extent of the "promises" that were made by KG, but I do find it interesting that a megamonopolist that is attempting its best to enshittify our world so they can print more money is the plaintiff.
Thank you to 'FXBG Advance''s Managing Editor, Adele Uphaus for writing this article, 'Motions Filed This Week in Amazon Data Services v. King George County' as well as including the Disclaimer statement at the end of it. Readers appreciate this transparency.