Remarks to the Prince William Planning Commission: March 23, 2022

I’m Bill Wright and I live in Gainesville.  I’m here to oppose the Prince William Digital Gateway. 

Citizens lightly informed about this CPA may not realize that it is not the County’s plan, but a private business proposal which deviates from the County’s Comprehensive Plan and stated intention to site data center development within the designated Data Center Opportunity Zone Overlay District. 

Proposals that deviate from the County’s plan should have a higher bar to clear.  Whose interest does this deviation serve and does it provide benefits or opportunities that can only be achieved by adhering to applicant’s proposal?  What are the associated drawbacks?  Since every proposal has many stakeholders, whose interests have primacy?  It should be the taxpaying citizens.

The Culpeper County Planning Commission recently recommended denial of a similar rezoning request from Amazon since that proposal was not consistent with their comprehensive plan and was judged to cause negative impacts on the surrounding community.  They said no to reckless development.

Opponents of the Prince William Digital Gateway have argued that its proposed economic benefits can be achieved by building out the existing data center overlay district, without the well-documented environmental impacts.  I know you have been told that there is insufficient land available there, but that narrative is advanced by those with a financial interest in driving development toward their own properties.  I have provided the Commissioners detailed information on land available within the existing overlay district for data center development.

You have also been told that only land parcels of 100 acres or more are suitable for data center development.  You know this to be untrue since all of the 26 operating data centers in the County, and most currently under development, are on parcels considerably smaller.  A BAE market study requested by the County makes no mention of such requirement and states that data center developers are eager to locate here.  The study says demand for data centers in Northern Virginia is extremely strong.  When demand exceeds supply it creates a “seller’s market” which puts us in a strong negotiating position.  What is our reason for being overly accommodating and is such accommodation serving our citizen’s interests? 

The Prince William County Finance Department’s recent analysis of the economic impact of this proposal found the applicant’s claims to be grossly exaggerated.  Even these reduced benefits will be offset by necessary infrastructure investments.  The applicant’s own opinion of probable cost of proposed public infrastructure estimates road improvements alone to cost $90.5 million.  The County has provided NO estimate of expected infrastructure costs or even acknowledged what types of costs might be incurred.  When fully revealed, these costs may be much higher.  It is irresponsible to consider a proposal of this magnitude without providing the public with a clear picture of these costs which will result in cash flow from this proposal being actually negative for several years. 

I’d like to thank Commissioner McPhail for joining me on a tour which compared potential data center development sites in the overlay district with those proposed for the Prince William Digital Gateway.  I invite any of you to join me on a future tour and some have already expressed interest.  Let’s get to the truth on this proposal and make the best recommendation for all our citizens.  Thank you.