A Prince William County judge ruled on August 7 to void the rezoning for the Prince William Digital Gateway. At 22 million square feet, the project would have become the largest data center corridor in the world, InsideNoVA reported.
Rezoning for the Prince William Digital Gateway was approved in December 2023. But Judge Kimberly Irving determined that the county did not properly advertise public hearings on the project.
The ongoing project would allow QTS and Compass Datacenters to build data centers on roughly 2,100 acres near Gainesville. The site is close to the Manassas National Battlefield Park and has been the subject of intense debate. Some argue that it will bring vast economic benefits, and others have raised concerns about noise, traffic, and damage to historic sites.
A collection of 12 Oak Valley residents filed a lawsuit to challenge the rezoning. They argued that the county’s hearing notices in The Washington Post did not comply with state or county requirements. They also argued that relevant materials were not available to the public when the ad was first published.
Judge Irving ruled in favor of the Oak Valley residents, making the rezoning void and effectively halting the project. The county and developers now have 30 days from that August 7 ruling to file an appeal, according to InsideNoVA. If they do, a judge could reinstate the rezoning, or there may be additional public hearings.
“I was adamantly against the rezoning when I ran for office, and I am even more so now,” Prince William County Board Chair Deshundra Jefferson said in a statement. “Data centers have enabled us to expand our commercial tax base, but that has come at a high cost to other economic development and to our quality of life.”
Feature image, stock.adobe.com
