Large Green Energy Ventures data center campus draws heavy public comment; planning commission defers actions

Green Energy Ventures presented a multi-phase plan to rezone roughly 356 acres near Route 3 and Bloomsbury Road for an industrial data center campus, and to obtain a special exception to permit data center uses. The planning commission heard technical presentations from the applicant, reviewed multiple proffers and traffic and environmental studies, and then received extensive public comment before voting to defer action on both the rezoning and the special-exception requests.

County staff summarized the three related requests: a conditional rezoning of three parcels to industrial, a special exception to allow data center use in the industrial zone, and an exception to allow more than one access onto a Highway Corridor Overlay District roadway (Route 3). Angela Farrugi, representing community development counsel, and Hobie Mitchell, managing partner for Green Energy Ventures (GEV), presented a site plan showing building locations and proposed roadway improvements. The applicant proposed a phased development capped at 7.2 million square feet of data center space, with phase 1 limited to no more than 2.5 million square feet. The package includes right-of-way dedications for Bloomsbury Road and Route 3, proffered transportation improvements (turn lanes, signal warrant analysis and RCUT alternatives), a proposed 18-acre dedication to the county or…