Fluvanna planners ask board to pause data-center approvals amid water, noise and infrastructure concerns

Fluvanna County Planning Commission members on Sept. 9 asked staff to request that the Board of Supervisors appoint a joint committee and pause approvals of new data centers while the county studies zoning, siting and infrastructure needs.

County planning staff opened the discussion by saying the commission had been asked by the Board of Supervisors to study data centers and return with recommendations. "We've been asked by the Board of Supervisors to look at this and come back with some recommendations for any changes we might wanna make to our ordinance in regard to data centers," the planner told the commission.

The commission heard a summary of statewide trends and local examples. Staff cited a Piedmont Environmental Council dataset showing rapid growth in Virginia's data-center market and noted company announcements placing facilities near Farmville and in Appomattox County. The presentation said Fluvanna's current code allows data centers by right in I-1 and I-2 industrial zones but nowhere else.

Commissioners raised environmental and community concerns. Commissioner Kilpatrick said, "there are concerns about water usage," and also flagged impacts to the night sky and noise. Several commissioners described worries about cumulative impacts — heavy power demand, possible large-scale water use for cooling, audible mechanical noise, and fire-safety risks — and said those issues argued for tighter local controls than by-right zoning.

Members reviewed how neighboring counties regulate data centers: options include conditional use permits in technology overlay districts, tiered overlay systems tied to building size, and special-exception or special-permit requirements. Commissioners discussed three main options for Fluvanna: keep data centers as a by-right use in I-1/I-2; require a special-use permit (SUP) and public hearings; or create a technology or special zoning district with detailed standards for setbacks, buffers, screening, noise and water use. Staff also noted the county recently used a special S-1 solar district approach for utility-scale solar, which required rezoning plus an SUP and included underlying standards for setbacks, buffers and vegetation.

After discussion commissioners asked staff to seek the Board of Supervisors' approval to appoint a joint committee — suggested by commissioners as two supervisors and two planning commissioners — to draft a technology overlay or similar regulations and to request a temporary pause on approvals of data-center applications while the committee completes its work. Planning staff said, "We can make that request as the majority of the planning commission is in favor of staff making that request to the board."

Next steps: planning staff will place the commission's request on the Sept. 17 Board of Supervisors agenda and the commission will continue drafting options for district standards and SUP conditions, including setbacks, buffers, noise limits, screening and provisions addressing water and power infrastructure.

Details and context: the commission's discussion repeatedly referenced examples from Louisa, Goochland, Albemarle, Loudoun, Prince William and Henrico counties, which use a range of overlay districts, special permits and size-based tiers to regulate data centers. Commissioners also flagged early indicators of developer interest, such as installation of large bundles of dark fiber, and asked staff to monitor local permitting and utility infrastructure activity.

The commission did not adopt ordinance language at the meeting; it directed staff to request the board form a joint committee and to seek a temporary pause on approvals while the committee develops recommendations.