Loudoun Planning Commission advances data‑center rezoning, Franklin Park expansion, substations and park and land‑use items

The Loudoun County Planning Commission met Sept. 23 and took action on a wide set of land‑use items, forwarding several cases to the Board of Supervisors and approving county projects. Highlights included forwarding the Cochrane Tech rezoning and multiple special exceptions (including a proposal for an on‑site utility‑scale energy storage facility) to the board with conditions; approving a commission permit and forwarding Franklin Park West to the board; endorsing an Auto World substation plan; and moving forward multiple other zoning updates and amendments.

Why it matters: The votes affect where Loudoun will locate industrial uses, how the county regulates battery energy storage near waterways and residences, how the county expands an existing regional park west of Franklin Park, and where utility infrastructure will be sited to serve regional growth, including data centers. Several items prompted public comment and technical scrutiny on safety, traffic and environmental protection.

Cochrane Tech (data center + battery storage) Staff and the applicant presented a rezoning to IP (Industrial Park) for a 17.5‑acre property east of Cochrane Mill Road that would allow a data center and a separate, utility‑scale energy storage facility on a portion of the site. Staff’s recommendation was generally supportive with conditions to limit potential hazards and improve compatibility: the zoning conditions recommended a prohibition of lithium‑ion battery chemistries, a 200‑foot setback from any residential property line for the storage facility, limits on equipment size and placement on gravel pads with a five‑foot perimeter for fire access, screening and noise mitigation measures, and a restriction on use of an existing residential driveway for construction traffic.

Dominion’s local fire marshal participated in the hearing and told the commission that, following guidance in NFPA‑855, the county fire service was comfortable with the applicant’s non‑lithium approach and with site measures such as containment, distancing and sprinkler/suppression systems. The applicant said it would prohibit lithium and use a graphene‑based technology; the applicant and its energy‑technology representative described the system as an electrochemical/graphene storage approach they said has lower thermal‑runaway risk than lithium. Resident and environmental comment emphasized concerns about grading near Goose Creek and water quality. Emily Johnson of the Piedmont Environmental Council told the commission that "The development would require significant grading just beside Goose Creek an already impaired waterway," and urged the commission to use the case to refine county procedures for battery storage.

Commission discussion ranged from technical questions about how the county verifies manufacturers’ safety claims to requests for more detail on setbacks, noise and decommissioning. The commission voted to forward…