Fairfax County has proposed a Zoning Ordinance Amendment to address a limited number of issues related to data centers. Unfortunately, the county has deferred many of the most impactful natural resource and land use issues to the Policy Plan process which could take until 2026. Other provisions are too weak and will allow for carbon increases and long-term ratepayer costs. The public hearing is scheduled on the data center Zoning Ordinance Amendment on July 16 at 4 PM before the Board of Supervisors. Please testify online live, in person, or via video.
Join dozens of environmental advocates who will be there on July 16. Sign up to be a speaker ASAP!
How to sign up to speak at a Fairfax County Board of Supervisor public hearing:
New to this? Fairfax County provides information on the various way to testify—click here.
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You must sign up before Monday, July 15, at 9 AM
We call on the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors at their July 16 public hearing to support the Planning Commission’s amendments to strengthen the proposed Zoning Ordinance Amendment (ZOA) and the additional asks in our letter below.
**Require that data centers be at least 1-mile distance from a metro station entrance. The county should be investing in walkable communities, housing, and jobs near transit, not building data center in these valuable areas. Data centers have few on-site employees and, as such, building them within walking distance of transit undermines the county’s smart growth and transportation goals to support residential, jobs, and mixed-use development near transit.
**Require that noisy and polluting data center equipment be setback at least 500 feet from adjacent residences. We support the amendment by the Panning Commission that generators and HVAC equipment be located away from (not adjacent to) residential, public and commercial uses, in order to reduce air, noise, and aesthetic impacts to adjacent properties. We must strengthen protections for all residents, especially the most vulnerable according to the One Fairfax Policy, such as the residents of the Meadows of Chantilly Mobile Home community in the sully district who are facing an otherwise by-right data center proposed just 50 feet from their community.
**Preserve the provision that clearly states that new rules in the ZOA would apply to submitted, but not year approved, data center site applications.
Please read the letter we sent to the PC and BOS asking for a comprehensive approach to regulating data centers.
Fairfax County Data Center ZOA SCGFG Comments.docx
Fairfax County’s background resources. https://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/planning-development/data-centers