Thanks for an informative article involving important issues that affect (or will affect) most of us in the Fredericksburg region. In case others aren’t following local AI/data center issues, there are pending and/or approved applications in every jurisdiction in our area.
I don’t live in Stafford County and I’m not familiar with the details of its land use regulations. I am very familiar with land use good practices and related ordinances and processes from my tenure as a county attorney in a nearby Virginia county.
I recommend a two-point approach to anyone opposing any proposed land use application, a strategy that I think is especially worthy of consideration in applications that local governing bodies are predisposed to approve due to resulting tax revenue windfalls, like data center applications.
The first approach is to explore all the detriments that flow from the proposed use and expound in detail on them. This approach seeks denial of the application, and you fight like heck.
It’s also important to take all that information about detriments and demand of your elected officials (in this case the Stafford County Board of Supervisors) that they ensure that every single detriment is adequately addressed by existing or amended ordinances, and/or by applicant proffers or governing body-imposed approval conditions. Essentially, with this approach, you take the proposed development plan and make it the best possible plan.
Important issues to be addressed include the source of the water supply for extreme-high users like data centers, electricity rate-impacts on residential users caused by insatiable electricity users like data centers , noise and air pollution (diesel powered backup generators are super noisy and super polluters), all the other issues already discussed in your article, and any other issue that arises throughout the land use application process.
Personally, I worry that local governing bodies still aren’t asking all the right questions; that they are blinded by potential tax revenue windfalls, the calculation and fairness of which are naively based on overly optimistic applicant forecasts. These forecasts are so rosy, they also make me ponder whether, even if they prove true, there isn’t a lot more tax revenue to be gained via negotiation.
Thanks for an informative article involving important issues that affect (or will affect) most of us in the Fredericksburg region. In case others aren’t following local AI/data center issues, there are pending and/or approved applications in every jurisdiction in our area.
I don’t live in Stafford County and I’m not familiar with the details of its land use regulations. I am very familiar with land use good practices and related ordinances and processes from my tenure as a county attorney in a nearby Virginia county.
I recommend a two-point approach to anyone opposing any proposed land use application, a strategy that I think is especially worthy of consideration in applications that local governing bodies are predisposed to approve due to resulting tax revenue windfalls, like data center applications.
The first approach is to explore all the detriments that flow from the proposed use and expound in detail on them. This approach seeks denial of the application, and you fight like heck.
It’s also important to take all that information about detriments and demand of your elected officials (in this case the Stafford County Board of Supervisors) that they ensure that every single detriment is adequately addressed by existing or amended ordinances, and/or by applicant proffers or governing body-imposed approval conditions. Essentially, with this approach, you take the proposed development plan and make it the best possible plan.
Important issues to be addressed include the source of the water supply for extreme-high users like data centers, electricity rate-impacts on residential users caused by insatiable electricity users like data centers , noise and air pollution (diesel powered backup generators are super noisy and super polluters), all the other issues already discussed in your article, and any other issue that arises throughout the land use application process.
Personally, I worry that local governing bodies still aren’t asking all the right questions; that they are blinded by potential tax revenue windfalls, the calculation and fairness of which are naively based on overly optimistic applicant forecasts. These forecasts are so rosy, they also make me ponder whether, even if they prove true, there isn’t a lot more tax revenue to be gained via negotiation.
Wonderful advice. I think we share the exact same worries. Thank you.