OPINION: Data Centers - Why here, why now
By Kerry Devine
GUEST CONTRIBUTOR
This council takes the primary responsibility of economic development seriously, providing revenue for much needed services and to provide relief to taxpayers. Much has been debated about data centers to date. While I think the case has been made for why the city is pursuing this economic opportunity, I want to address the question of timing, or “speed,” with which this project is being managed.
Data centers are being pursued and built in many of the surrounding counties. Fredericksburg clearly is at a disadvantage when it comes to a site; 250+ acres of contiguous developable land in our 10.4 square miles is not abundant, as it is in the counties. While the city has been considering data centers as an economic venture since before the 2018 regional agreement, not until late 2024 did we have a developer willing to acquire and dedicate land for this project. In the interim, staff and council members have researched and kept apprised of projects throughout Virginia.
Once land was acquired things moved quickly. The city applied to Dominion Energy to get on their rapidly expanding project list for providing power to the proposed site. The case has been made to Dominion as to the fiscal constraints on the city: that we have the lowest average income in the region, the highest number of ALICE (Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed) households, the highest per pupil cost in the region, etc.…
The property owner and the city are working with a data center developer (under an NDA) to align the other aspects of this proposed project.
We all want the best for our beautiful city. We are a vibrant yet historic city of only 29,000 people in the midst of some of the fastest growing counties in the state (and country), projected to reach 400,000 by 2050. We either encourage this significant financially beneficial project that enables us to attract and retain our police and fire personnel, our teachers, our social service staff, and all of those who work daily for us, or we acknowledge that we hire and train personnel only to quickly lose them to our neighbors. We need to build Fire Station 3, expand our Wastewater Treatment plant, deal with our aging infrastructure, or we accept that taxes skyrocket to meet those needs. We accept the reality that our goals and priorities are more of a wish list than items that can be accomplished.
Voting yes, approving the Technology Overlay District which has incorporated many of the Planning Commission, Friends of the Rappahannock, and community concerns about water use, constraints on noise, and additional setbacks from residential areas, means we move ahead with next steps.
The city has the capacity to sell the developer water during a “bridging” period and the city will require a water use agreement prior to any development.
Including those specific requirements upfront, directed by the city, ties the developer to those requirements, negating the need for a special use agreement.
So … what happens with a “no” vote on Tuesday, Feb 25th? The message to the data center developers becomes clear. Dominion moves us off of, or to the end of, their years long list. The landowner moves ahead with a 60- to 70-foot residential complex that has already been approved and adds 762 new units. Additional 60- to 70-foot projects (zoning allows up to 90’) totaling 1,942 units in that area become reality. The 250 acres that make this project possible are gone. The data center developer moves on to a nearby county that welcomes them. The city loses an estimated $60 million per year in revenue at build out.
Kerry Devine is mayor of the city of Fredericksburg.
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