Prince William Planning Commission recommends denial of PW Digital Gateway data center project

Prince William Planning Commission recommends denial 

By Emily Seymour and Ben Peters, Nov. 9, 5:41 p.m.

The Prince William County Planning Commission on Thursday recommended the denial of all three rezoning applications associated with the divisive PW Digital Gateway data center proposal.

The meeting adjourned after almost 24 hours conducting three public hearings, grilling the applicants, county staff and energy officials on the fine details of each application then hearing from hundreds of members of the public both in person and online.

The Board of County Supervisors will have a final say on QTS Realty Trust Inc. and Compass Datacenters’ proposal to build 23 million square feet of data centers on roughly 2,100 acres along Pageland Lane in western Prince William near Gainesville in what would become the largest data center corridor in the world. The supervisors’ Democratic majority on Dec. 12 are expected to approve the project. 

The commission’s rejection of the plan follows Prince William County’s professional planning staff also deeming the applications underbaked because of the lack of information provided by developers. Staff spent much of the public hearings working to outline to commissioners and the public why they rendered such searing opinions of the companies’ plans.

Gainesville District Commissioner Richard Berry, whose district includes the area where the Digital Gateway is proposed for development, made several attempts to defer a vote on the project, arguing it’s not ready for primetime. Joining him were the other three western Prince William commissioners, Brenstville’s Tom Gordy and Coles District Joseph Fontanella, but they couldn’t secure enough votes for the measure to pass.

Chair Cynthia Moses-Nedd of the Woodbridge District, Vice Chair Juan McPhail of the Potomac District, Qwendolyn N. Brown of the Neabsco District, At-Large Commissioner Patty Kuntz and Raheel Sheikh of the Occoquan District all opposed deferral. The commission instead eventually moved to recommend that the supervisors not approve the project.

A deferral from the Planning Commission would have slowed the project’s momentum to a halt, necessitating a holding period followed by more hearings likely early next year.

The rush to move the applications along through the approval process stems from deadlines the developers’ say they must meet. The political realities surrounding the project are also a critical wrinkle. The board’s Democratic majority will hold into next year, but Deshundra Jefferson, the incoming chair, has been a staunch opponent of the project and has vowed to take steps to mitigate it and other similar data center projects once in power. Her ascendance, paired with Republican opposition to the project, could kill it should a vote be pushed to January.

“I do not believe we have enough information regarding the concerns, issues and omissions as outlined in the staff report and from citizens comments to determine if this application properly mitigates impacts of development in this location,” Berry said of his move for deferral.

He had hoped to give staff the “professional courtesy” of reviewing the company's amended project applications that were submitted just days ahead of the hearings in response to the county’s staff’s rejection of their initial plans.

The companies had sought to assure officials they were committed to clarifying the imprecise information initially provided about the project’s layout and potential impacts on the surrounding area.

But because of the late arrival of the companies’ amended applications, county staff didn’t have enough time before Wednesday to render a new verdict, leaving members of the Planning Commission to review thousands of pages of new information and reach their own conclusions without the formal guidance of impartial professionals.

The disconnect was a recurring theme of the hearings. Representatives from the companies were speaking about compromises they said are included in the resubmitted applications, but staff were only available to speak about their opinions that were based on now-outdated documents.

Members of county staff who wrote the reports calling the developers’ initial Digital Gateway application submissions inadequate said many times through the hearings they feel they don’t have enough time before the planned Board of County Supervisors meeting to fully review the new documents.

The holidays between now and staff’s mid-November deadline to file new reports complicate the timeline further, with several days where local government is closed.

“I spent probably a total of three weeks writing the staff report. I didn’t do anything else,” said Principal Planner Emilie Wolfson who oversaw the Compass application. “The amount of information we received … it’s unreasonable to ask staff to review that amount of information in a quarter of the time.” 

Planner Christopher Perez, who oversaw the QTS applications, also raised concerns about the tight timeline.

After several failed attempts to defer, Berry moved to deny all three proposals.

Moses-Nedd, McPhail, Kuntz, Brown, Berry and Fontanella all backed denying Compass' proposal, with Gordy and Sheikh opposing.

Moses-Nedd, McPhail, Berry, Kuntz, Brown and Sheikh also voted to reject both QTS applications. This time, it was Gordy and Fontanella who voted against denial of the two proposals.

Fontanella, who supported the motions for deferral, but ultimately voted in favor of denial, said the staff had been put under an impossible deadline to review the recently-submitted materials.

“My personal belief is it’s irresponsible to move these applications forward until the staff has completed its review. However, we’ve just seen two motions to do just that fail. And I’m not going to vote in favor of this application,” Fontanella said.

Gordy told InsideNoVa he remains opposed to the Digital Gateway project, but his vote against the motion to deny was meant to signal his opposition to advancing the project to the board of supervisors.

Gordy, who earlier this week was elected Brentsville District supervisor, said he doesn’t believe planning staff and the commission had ample time to review the latest applications and amendments, and thus the proposals shouldn’t be sent on to the board, regardless of what recommendation is attached.

Gordy admonished Compass and QTS for their last-minute submissions and amendments.

“If they thought this was a good project for Prince William and the residents, they wouldn’t be playing these games,” Gordy said.

Kuntz said while she disagreed with her own vote to deny the proposals, she believed it was necessary to bring finality.

“I’m disappointed that a majority of the commission is not yet prepared to recommend this approval on this application, I see no reason to further delay the Board of County Supervisors consideration of what I believe to be an important and very beneficial project to our county,” Kuntz said.

Shortly after the Planning Commission rendered its verdict, a spokesperson with Compass called the decision a disappointment.

“While Compass is disappointed the Planning Commission did not recommend approval, we thank the Commissioners for their consideration and the hundreds of Prince William County residents who spoke in support of our application for their thoughtful comments,” the company said. “Next, we look forward to presenting our application at December’s Board of Supervisors meeting”.

A QTS spokesperson said the company is “confident” it will address leaders’ remaining concerns and win approval from the board. 

“QTS is grateful for the Commission’s time and dedication and looks forward to finalizing our partnership with Prince William County, which will support taxpayers, educational goals, and public safety priorities,” the company said.

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Vote's in; denial recommended

By Trevor Baratko and Emily Seymour, Nov. 9, 1:58 p.m.

Nearly 24 hours after the public hearing began, the Prince William County Planning Commission on Thursday recommended the Board of County Supervisors deny the massive PW Digital Gateway data center project.

Commissioners were taking up multiple rezoning requests from QTS Realty Trust Inc. and Compass Datacenters. The companies combined aim to build 23 million square feet of data centers on roughly 2,100 acres along Pageland Lane in western Prince William near Gainesville in what would become the largest data center corridor in the world.

The Board of County Supervisors will have a final say in the matter, and despite the county planning staff -- and now Planning Commission -- recommending denial, supervisors are expected to approve the proposal. 

The Planning Commission voted on three rezoning proposals.

The commissioners voted 6-2 to deny the first proposal, which was the rezoning request for Compass Datacenters. Commissioners Tom Gordy and Raheel Sheikh voted against the motion to deny. 

The two subsequent votes concerned the proposed rezoning for Digital Gateway’s North and South.

The commissioners again voted 6-2, in favor of denying the proposal, this time with commissioners Tom Gordy and Joseph Fontanella voting against the motion to deny.

Gordy told InsideNoVa he's opposed to the Digital Gateway project, but a vote against the motion to deny served as an opposition vote to advancing the project to the board of supervisors.

Several motions from Gainesville District Commissioner Richard Berry to defer the project to a future commission meeting failed.

This is an InsideNoVa.com news alert. Check back soon for updates.

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Digital Gateway meeting passes 20-hour mark as online speakers continue

Staff, Nov. 9, 10:30 a.m.

The Prince William County Planning Commission’s meeting and public hearing on the PW Digital Gateway crossed the 20-hour mark Thursday morning with no immediate end in sight.

In-person public comment ended early Thursday morning, but nearly 200 people had signed up to speak online, and each speaker was being given nine minutes to address the three rezoning requests. Speakers representing organizations were given 15 minutes each.

Remote speakers Thursday generally opposed the rezoning requests, or, at a minimum, suggested the Planning Commission should defer consideration because thousands of pages of changes were submitted late last week by data center applicants QTS Realty Trust and Compass Datacenters.

One speaker joked that the commissioners were still wearing the same clothes as they were when the meeting started Wednesday afternoon at 2 p.m. and said it would be within the commission’s rules to suspend the meeting so they could go home, take a shower and rest for a few hours before resuming.

Among those speaking in opposition were representatives of the Journey Through Hallowed Ground, the Coalition for Smarter Growth and the American Battlefield Trust.

Another speaker, Allyson Satterwhite, a former Prince William School Board member and Board of County Supervisors candidate, noted that the Digital Gateway project, at over 2,100 acres, would be equivalent to the size of 2.5 George Mason University campuses or five Tyson Corner Centers. And, she said, the developers submitted over 6,000 pages of documents last week in response to the county planning staff’s recommendation that the applications be denied.

“We have more questions than we do answers about the Digital Gateway,” Satterwhite added.

Another opponent took advantage of the remote participation option to make her comments while standing in front of data centers under construction near Haymarket to demonstrate her point about the visual impact of the buildings.

And while most of the opponents cited aesthetic and environmental concerns, one raised another issue.

“If I were a terrorist and Pageland Avenue was a target,” she said, “boy, couldn’t I do a lot of damage in one little area?”

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Digital Gateway hearing pushes past 15-hour mark

By Grace Schumacher, Nov. 9, 5:51 a.m.

In the James McCoart Building chambers in Woodbridge, fatigue set in as the Prince William Digital Gateway public hearings hit the 15-hour mark, surpassing the 2022 meeting, which totaled more than 12 hours.

Despite the daunting and continuously extending wait time, people have staked out, some since early Wednesday morning, to bring both their concerns and praise to the commissioners. 

Over 100 individuals and organization representatives had spoken during the in-person public comment portion of the hearing, with comments ranging from concern for negative environmental and health impacts to the potential financial benefits of the Digital Gateway project. 

The contentious debate continues, some residents placing emphasis on the threat to the rural and historical character near Manassas National Battlefield Park, while proponents of the project highlight its potential for economic growth and job opportunity. 

Ryan Bartruff of Gainesville, for example, asked the commissioners to see the value data centers bring to the area.

“This is an opportunity for Prince William County to be a leader on a global stage,” he said. “The scope of these applications are not a deterrent, it's what makes these [projects] possible.”

One concern from the opposition, in particular, seemed to be unanimous. 

Peter Glyer of Occoquan was one of many speakers who submitted a plea asking the commission to defer or deny the recently submitted amended project applications set before them. “There has just not been sufficient time for a thorough review of the applications,” he said.

“We encourage you to defer or deny these three applications, at least until the staff has time to review it,” echoed Sandra Painter, representing the Heritage Hunt Homeowners Association.

Over 200 people have signed up to speak remotely, though, due to the prolonged in-person session, it is possible that number might dwindle. 

Commissioners are expected to render recommendations on the two rezoning requests by QTS Realty Trust Inc. and Compass Datacenters at some point Thursday.

Stay with InsideNoVa for key moments in the Planning Commission's Digital Gateway public hearing.

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Takeaways from the first nine hours of the Prince William Planning Commission's PW Digital Gateway hearings

By Ben Peters, Nov. 8, 11:58 p.m.

 The Prince William County Planning Commission on Wednesday began its highly anticipated public hearing on the contentious PW Digital Gateway data center project.

Commissioners will render recommendations on two rezoning requests by QTS Realty Trust Inc. and another by Compass Datacenters. The companies combined aim to build 23 million square feet of data centers on roughly 2,100 acres along Pageland Lane in western Prince William near Gainesville in what would become the largest data center corridor in the world.

The body spent nearly nine hours Wednesday afternoon into the late evening conducting three public hearings, grilling the applicants, county staff and energy officials on the fine details of each application.

Here are some takeaways from the hearings.

Flexibility vs. accountability

A tension between the developers seeking flexibility in how they build out the Digital Gateway and county staff seeking to hold them accountable for what is constructed and where its placed was central to many of the exchanges at the hearing.

Prince William County’s professional planning staff had rejected the applications largely because of the lack of information provided by developers and spent much of the public hearings working to outline to commissioners and the public why they rendered such searing opinions of the companies’ plans.

But representatives from the companies maintained they need that flexibility to meet the evolving needs of clients that will make use of space inside the data centers and allow them to adjust the buildings as they are built over the next decade to keep up with rapidly evolving cloud computing technology and the supplemental technologies that support it.

Staff want assurances from the companies to keep them in check to ensure they’re building data centers in alignment with what they proffered in the rezoning requests.

New and old applications

There was confusion over which version of the developers’ applications were being discussed at any given moment.

In the days before Wednesday’s hearings, the two developers behind the data center corridor submitted amended project applications to Prince William leaders in response to the county’s staff rejecting their initial plans.

The companies sought to assure officials they were committed to clarifying the imprecise information initially provided about the project’s layout and potential impacts on the surrounding area.

But because of the late arrival of the companies’ amended applications, county staff didn’t have enough time before Wednesday to render a new verdict, leaving members of the Planning Commission to review thousands of pages of new information and reach their own conclusions without the formal guidance of impartial professionals.

When speaking with commissioners, representatives from the company were speaking about compromises they said are included in the resubmitted applications, but staff were only available to speak about their opinions that were based on now-outdated documents.

When asked by a member of the commission whether they would back the updated applications, county planning staff declined to answer, saying they haven’t fully consumed them yet and aren't willing to speculate. 

Planning Manager Alex Vanegas said staff intends to independently verify the thousands of changes made by the companies and determine whether they address staff concerns before commenting.

Not enough time

Members of county staff who wrote the reports calling the Digital Gateway inadequate said they don’t have enough time before the planned Dec. 12 Board of County Supervisors meeting to fully review the amended applications. 

The holidays between now and then complicate the timeline further, with several days where local government is closed.

“I spent probably a total of three weeks writing the staff report. I didn’t do anything else,” said Principal Planner Emilie Wolfson who oversaw the Compass application. “The amount of information we received … it’s unreasonable to ask staff to review that amount of information in a quarter of the time.”

Planner Christopher Perez, who oversaw the QTS applications, also raised concerns about the tight timeline.

Balance of power

Conservative commissioners representing western Prince William where the data center project is planned were much more critical of the proposal than those who represent the county's more liberal eastern end.

It's similar to the dynamic on the Board of County Supervisors, who appoint commissioners from their district. The board's Democratic majority have signaled their support for the project.

The Planning Commission is the first body through which the rezoning applications must pass before going to the supervisors, which is scheduled in December. Planners will issue recommendations on whether the supervisors should adopt the applications, but the board is free to override the Planning Commission's recommendation.

Lots of public comment

Opponents of the project, including elected officials, candidates and advocacy groups, have been pressing their supporters all week to turn out and use all of their speaking time to extend this meeting as long as possible.

Over 300 people signed up to speak for public comment, which began around 10 p.m. The meeting, which began at 2 p.m. Wednesday, is expected to extend well into Thursday.

Officials decided to have public comment time for all three public hearings run concurrently, meaning members of the public who have signed up to speak will have up to three minutes to speak for each public hearing, for a possible total of nine minutes if they choose to speak on all three. Those representing an entity or organization qualified under the commission’s rules will have up to five minutes to speak for each public hearing, for a possible 15 total minutes. 

On Wednesday night, Chair Cynthia Moses-Nedd sought to maintain order in the board room and encourage people to be mindful of time so to not unnecessarily extend the meeting's length.

In the lead-up to the upcoming hearings, some commissioners — most representing western Prince William — unsuccessfully pushed to instead hold the hearings on separate dates because all anticipate an exceptionally lengthy meeting.

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