Remarks to the Prince William Board of County Supervisors: May 24, 2022

My name is Bill Wright and I live in Gainesville.  I oppose the Prince William Digital Gateway. 

I was gratified when I returned from vacation to see Peter Cary’s excellent Prince William Times article, the one Christina Winn declined to be interviewed for, that thoroughly discredited the bogus argument of “no available land in the overlay district”.  This false assertion has repeatedly been cited to drive data center development into areas where it clearly doesn’t belong.

Prince William County is already in the process of developing almost 40 million square feet of data center capacity.  That is not counting anything that may be developed on available land in the overlay district and not counting undetermined square footage for properties already under development.  These areas may yield up to an additional 20 million square feet of capacity.  Most importantly, all of this is without the Prince William Digital Gateway.

I read the Targeted Industry Land Needs Analysis report requested by the County that stated the highest projected demand for data center capacity over the next 20 years was 48 million square feet.  Per the Times article’s findings, this demand can be met even without the Prince William Digital Gateway.  So, the County doesn’t need to recklessly tear up the countryside to reach even its most ambitious goals for data center development.  Never mind that the County has never articulated what those goals are.

Opponents of the Prince William Digital Gateway have never said don’t build data centers.  We said don’t put them where they don’t belong.  And now you have definitive proof that you don’t need to.

The Prince William Digital Gateway was driven by greed from the outset, and phony supporting arguments have been conjured up to serve that end.  They are now beginning to unravel and it is time for Supervisors to take the exit ramp.  If you have the good sense to do so, you will be rewarded with the gratitude and restored trust of your constituents. 

However, should you foolishly decide to double-down on your support for this rapidly sinking ship, I can assure you that there are plenty more opportunities for embarrassment.  Time and sunshine are not kind to bad ideas, and people get understandably suspicious of politicians who inexplicably cling to them.

Will you embrace the truth or hide from it?  I will be back this evening to ask you why this proposal hasn’t imploded by now.