Steve Watkins, ADVANCE EDITOR
SPOTSYLVANIA DATA CENTER DEVELOPMENTS
UPCOMING PUBLIC HEARING:
Crossroads Tech Campus Public Hearing, Board of Supervisors Meeting
Tuesday, November 17 | 4 p.m. Meeting begins | 5:45 p.m. Public Hearing begins
Holbert Building, 9104 Courthouse Road, Spotsylvania, VA
The Board of Supervisors will hold a Public Hearing and Vote on the Crossroads Tech Campus (data center). We need citizens to attend this meeting to show our Board of Supervisors that there is strong opposition to this data center campus and continued data center development in the County.
Crossroads will consist of 2 million square feet of buildings on 555 acres. It will impact wetlands, have over 200 diesel generators, and require 1 million gallons of reuse water daily. In addition, this campus sits within close proximity to homes, an elementary school, and several churches. If approved, Crossroads will be the ninth data center campus in Spotsylvania.
If you feel comfortable, please consider speaking during the Public Comment period on one of the issues that concerns you. Each resident is given 3 minutes to speak. You may speak 30 seconds or all three minutes. If you are not comfortable speaking, your presence still matters! Feel free to wear green to show solidarity with Safeguard Spotsy’s efforts to advocate for responsible and limited data center development in Spotsylvania County.
More information about Crossroads Tech Campus can be found at: www.safeguardspotsy.org and https://www.spotsylvania.va.us/3206/SUP26-0003-Crossroads-Technology-Campus
Also Coming Up:
Safeguard Spotsy Community Meeting
Thursday, December 3 | 6p.m.
Snow Library Branch,8740 Courthouse Road,Spotsylvania, VA
Safeguard Spotsy will be hosting a Community Meeting to discuss data center development in Spotsylvania County. We will review the approved projects, and what is still going through the rezoning process and the concerns surrounding them, and the upcoming legislative session in regards to data centers and the NextEra Merger.
About Safeguard Spotsy
Safeguard Spotsy is a grassroots coalition of neighbors and a 501(c)(4) organization advocating for responsible development across Spotsylvania County to ensure the health and well-being of residents and county resources. We work to preserve and protect the history, character, and quality of life of Spotsylvania County and its residents. The organization works at local and state levels to keep residents informed and engaged, and advocates for stronger development standards across Spotsylvania County and Virginia.
Safeguard Spotsy: www.safeguardspotsy.org
Facebook: Safeguard Spotsy
Instagram: @safeguardspotsy
Who pays when Virginia’s data centers go quiet or get sold to another firm?
By Jim Branscome, CARDINAL NEWS
Communities in Southwest and Southside Virginia are being told that data centers will pay property taxes for decades. Given the incredible growth of AI use, that is a reasonable assumption. Caution is in order, however, because the technology business has a long history of sudden change and obsolescence. The companies’ own financial statements may give the buildings decades, but they write off the most expensive part, the servers and chips inside, in five or six years.
The public is finally getting more information about the data centers proposed in Cardinal’s region. That, along with Gov. Abigail Spanberger’s Executive Order 22, offers some protection on the front end. What is missing is the back end. What happens when these centers go quiet or change hands?
Read more HERE.
STAFFORD DATA CENTER DEVELOPMENTS
How to Screen the documentary The New Data Center Alley!
Thank you to everyone who came out Wednesday evening for the screening of The New Data Center Alley: Development in Fredericksburg, Stafford, and Spotsylvania! We are especially grateful to filmmakers Chloe Adler, J.D. Swerzenski, and Owen Wheeler for their outstanding work exploring the rapid expansion of data center development across our region.
As Fredericksburg, Stafford, and Spotsylvania navigate significant growth in data center development, decisions being made today will have lasting implications for our region’s landscape, infrastructure, environment, and communities. This documentary offers an important opportunity to consider the broader regional impacts of these developments, what is at stake, whose voices are being heard, and what kind of future we envision for our region.
Couldn’t make the screening, or want to watch it again and share it with friends and neighbors? The documentary is available on Protect Stafford’s website!
Visit https://www.protectstafford.com/data-center-alley to watch and share!
November 18 | Kings Highway Corridor Data Centers Planning Commission Public Hearing
On Wednesday, November 18th at 6 p.m., the Stafford County Planning Commission will hold a single public hearing on the four data center proposals that make up the Kings Highway Corridor assemblage: Forest Lane, Sisson North, Sisson South, and Simms Farm.
The applicant has described the projects as “all or none,” and all four projects will be presented together. Residents will receive one public comment period to address the combined proposal (up to 3 mins per person). The Planning Commission will take a vote to make a recommendation to the Board of Supervisors, who will ultimately decide at a future public hearing whether to approve or deny the applications.
The hearings offer residents an important opportunity to raise concerns, seek answers to outstanding questions, and contribute to the public record on decisions with lasting consequences for Stafford County. The meeting will take place at Stafford County’s Government Center: 1300 Courthouse Road, Stafford, VA.
Please mark your calendar, share this date with your neighbors, and plan to speak.
