Despite opposition from residents, the Prince William Board of Supervisors voted for a rezoning that will allow for up to nine new data centers to be built in Bristow.
The supervisors voted 8–3 early Wednesday for the highly contested 270-acre Devlin Technology Park after an all-night meeting, NBC4 Washington reported.
The vote came down along party lines, with Democrats supporting it and Republicans opposing it, after hours of public comment from dozens of residents.
The rezoning allows the park to be built near several neighborhoods along Devlin and Linton Hall roads. The land had been zoned for 516 homes.
The plan is scaled back from an original proposal that called for 11 to 14 buildings.
The revised plan calls for the data centers to be 500 feet from any homes and 2,200 feet from Chris Yung Elementary School. The earlier plan put the data centers within 100 feet of the school’s property, according to the Prince William Times.
“This board, that staff, and the applicant has not addressed a single issue,” said Supervisor Robert Weir about concerns residents brought to the county. Weir, who represents Gainesville, voted against the data centers.
A much larger rezoning plan for a nearly 1,800-acre Digital Gateway project is scheduled for a vote by the supervisors on December 12. That plan called for the creation of a technology corridor along Pageland Lane in Gainesville.
Feature image, stock.adobe.com
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