Remarks to the Prince William Planning Commission: July 27, 2022

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

The Planning Office’s “Principles of Decision Making” for this proposal were really “Principles of Mitigation” because they bypass an evaluation of the risks versus benefits and focus solely on how to minimize its expected negative impacts.  The Planning Office’s draft staff report does essentially the same thing, while giving short shrift to frequently expressed public concerns

The “Principles of Decision Making” state: “identify and minimize potential impacts to existing adjacent residential and other incompatible land uses”.  If the County acknowledges that building an industrial corridor adjacent to residential areas constitutes incompatible land use, they should reject it outright and not just attempt to mitigate its detrimental impacts after approval.

The Data Center Fiscal Impact Analysis from PFM Group Consulting addresses costs associated with data center development in theoretical terms and states they are “less clearly quantifiable”.  Still, it seems the County has a responsibility to attempt, or at least acknowledge, estimated costs such as infrastructure, borrowing, public works, maintenance, and government staff, that would result from this project.  The Planning Office staff report makes no such attempt.  Citing expected revenues without citing any expenses that would offset them provides an unrealistically rosy outlook and inhibits prudent decision-making.

The Department of Economic Development confirmed that they are essentially order takers for the data center industry because of high demand for Prince William County properties.  Why then does the County need to be overly accommodating to industry preferences that conflict with the needs of its citizens?  Shouldn’t Economic Development be actively marketing properties within the overlay district since that is the preferred data center location per County ordinance?  Data center industry preferences should not drive County decisions.  If the Camoin report confirms high demand, the County has significant leverage to insist upon the most appropriate and advantageous siting of industrial facilities.

The Planning Office brief for your July 20^th work session contained no slide on the effect on the watershed and the staff report also glossed over the issue.  There was zero mention of the effect on electrical infrastructure for an obviously power intensive project.  Fauquier County’s recent experience illustrates the problem of not considering potential ramifications before approving such impactful proposals.  Why are such serious issues treated so dismissively?  The briefing never even touched on the subject of data center capacity already under development and whether this project is even needed in the first place, also not addressed in the staff report despite being raised countless times in public forums.

There was absolutely no consideration of the County’s revised Comprehensive Plan and whether the Prince William Digital Gateway even fits into the County’s vision.  That vision must precede any consideration of this proposal.

This is a proposal way out over its skis and clearly not ready for prime time.  I urge you to reject it.