The residents around Plaza 500 in Alexandria are asking the Board of Supervisors in Fairfax County to require approval and public input for data centers. Plaza 500 borders Alexandria near S. Pickett Street and Edsall Road. It is surrounded by several planned mixed-use and residential areas.
Fairfax County Proposal
Starwood Capital Group sent a plan to create a data center in a part of the Bren Mar neighborhood in Alexandria. It will be built on a partially zoned I-5 site. The planned building will be 461,444 square feet in size and 70 feet tall. However, the residents of communities around the area request the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors to require approval and public input for data centers before they’re built.
Tyler Ray, the HOA president of the Bren Pointe Homeowners Association, spoke to the board last month about the association’s concerns. According to Ray, the Planning Commission was concerned about the proposed site of the by-right data center and electrical substation in 2022. They deferred the rezoning application indefinitely after stating that they would deny the proposed data center.
By-right indicates permitted use, not a zoning district. There needs to be an amendment to the zoning ordinance to disallow data centers by right in the county. The board has not directed the county staff to make the amendment. Moreover, an amendment will take time, so it will likely not occur soon enough to impact the Plaza 500 project.
The Request for Public Input for Data Centers
Mason District Supervisor Andres Jimenez says he’s contacted the district and county residents regarding community development. He says he prioritized monitoring the proposed data centers in Fairfax County, keeping lines of communication open with HOA representatives and local stakeholders.
He reminded Chairman Jeff McKay and the board that pushing through with the plan by right conflicts with the basis of their support for the Chantilly data center. Bren Pointe and five other homeowners associations sent and signed a joint letter imploring Jimenez and McKay to revise the use of data centers from “permitted” to “special use” by amending the zoning ordinance.
However, according to Jimenez’s response to the letter, the timeline for reviewing and amending the plan is too tight. Authorizing the amendment before approving the site plan would be difficult. The board’s Land Use Committee will review and deliberate the data center on March 12.
According to McKay, the board asked staff for ideal recommendations for data centers because they’ve become abundant in other jurisdictions. If Fairfax were to establish data centers, it would do so at the highest foreseeable standard.
