datacenters
The End of By-Right Data Centers
Loudoun – Once in a while we have an occasion to reflect on the progress that Loudoun has made, and thank a few elected representatives, and today’s one such occasion.
On Tuesday the Board of Supervisors passed changes to the comprehensive plan and zoning ordinance that effectively end by-right development of data centers in Loudoun County. This recent change is the end of a long process that Loudoun Climate Project has been encouraging along with other organizations in the Virginia Data Center Reform Coalition, and are very glad to see completed.
For years we’ve heard that nothing can be done about by-right development because of zoning policy put in place by previous boards. With this change, the current board has set the county in a new direction that is more responsive to the needs that the county has today, whereas keeping the old policy would have left Loudoun stuck with policies from years ago that weren’t appropriate for our current situation.
As part of the change, several data centers were grandfathered under the old rules, which is something we hoped to avoid, but want to be clear that this is still a positive development overall. Loudoun is making progress. We’re grateful to those supervisors that supported the comp plan and zoning changes, especially those that voted against grandfathering.
Kudos to the Loudoun supervisors who supported the comprehensive plan and zoning modifications:
- Chair Randall
- Supervisor Briskman
- Supervisor Glass
- Supervisor Letourneau
- Supervisor Saines
- Supervisor TeKrony
- Supervisor Turner
Kudos to the Loudoun supervisors who voted against grandfathering:
- Supervisor Briskman
- Supervisor Glass
- Supervisor TeKrony
- Supervisor Turner
Local news coverage is here:
