Dear Stafford County Board of Supervisors,
My name is Rosanne B., and I live in Stafford County. I know this board faces constant pressure to say yes to data centers given how much of northern Virginia's economy now runs on them, but I'm writing to ask you to slow down on this one.
Northern Virginia already has a documented history of what happens when localities approve facility after facility without a real coordinated plan: overloaded substations, rate pressure creeping onto residential bills, and communities that lose their character piece by piece as more land gets converted to industrial use. I don't want Stafford to be the next cautionary example.
I'm asking for an independent hydrological study before any permit moves forward, one that names the actual water source, the projected daily draw, and what that means for residential wells and the Rappahannock watershed. On the grid, Dominion Energy's transmission system in this region is already strained from the concentration of data centers nearby, and I want a public capacity study before any new interconnection is approved, along with a guarantee that residential ratepayers won't be subsidizing infrastructure built for this one company. On noise and property values, this county's neighborhoods weren't planned around industrial infrastructure, and any approval needs binding noise limits and a real look at value impacts on nearby homes.
Relevant statutes: Code of Virginia § 15.2-2280 (zoning ordinance authority) and Code of Virginia § 62.1-44.15 (State Water Control Law).
Please require full independent studies and public disclosure before any action.
Respectfully,
Rosanne B.
Stafford County, Virginia
Dear Ms. B.,
Thank you for taking the time to share your concerns. Many of the issues you identified, water usage, electrical infrastructure, noise, impacts on surrounding properties, and appropriate siting, are exactly why Stafford County has taken a much more restrictive approach to data centers than many other Northern Virginia localities.
I also want to emphasize that Stafford has the benefit of learning from what has occurred elsewhere in Northern Virginia. We do not have to repeat the mistakes of jurisdictions that experienced rapid data center development before fully understanding the cumulative impacts.
That is why I have consistently supported strong setbacks, noise protections, careful consideration of water resources and infrastructure, and locating these facilities only where they are compatible with surrounding communities. I believe economic development and protection of our residents can and must occur together.
I appreciate your specific requests regarding hydrology, grid capacity, residential rate impacts, noise, and property values. I will make sure these concerns remain part of the discussion as proposals are evaluated.
My goal is not to make Stafford the next Loudoun or Prince William County. It is to learn from their experiences and determine whether Stafford can capture appropriate commercial investment while protecting the character, resources, and residents of our county.
Thank you again for engaging with the Board and for providing thoughtful, specific concerns for us to consider.
Respectfully,
Deuntay T. Diggs, MPA
Stafford County Chairman
George Washington District