Loudoun supervisors deadlock on proposed substation for Tuscarora Crossing; decision deferred

The Loudoun County Board of Supervisors on Sept. 16 deadlocked 4-4 with one abstention on a request to permit a gas-insulated substation and related special exceptions at the Tuscarora Crossing Land Bay 3 data-center campus, and voted to carry the item to the board’s next business meeting.

The application requested a special exception to allow an accessory utility substation to serve three proposed data center buildings on property south of Crosstrail Boulevard. The applicant also requested modifications to the required buffers and other site-specific exceptions. The project site sits adjacent to the Washington & Old Dominion Trail and within sight of existing and planned residential areas.

Board members and staff said the county had approved industrial uses there years earlier; several supervisors noted that the applicant had since reduced the proposed data center footprint and agreed to architectural and landscaping commitments. Supervisor Laura Umstead, who made the motion to approve the application, said the applicant “has done a lot to improve this application” and described commitments to a gas-insulated substation design, a 12-foot screening wall, enhanced evergreen plantings and the use of Tier 4 generators instead of older, louder equipment.

But speakers from the adjacent Tuscarora Crossing neighborhood said the substation and the data center campus are incompatible with nearby homes and public spaces. Resident Brett Sposa told the board, “If you approve this, you signal to every future developer that they can plant substations and industrial utilities in residential areas and the board will look the other way.” Emily Kasabian, another resident, told supervisors that the original approvals indicated a substation was not expected and that “the board’s role is to protect residents and uphold the plan you adopted.” Several speakers raised concerns about visual impacts, noise, property values and the proximity of equipment to the W&OD Trail.

During deliberations, supervisors described a difficult trade-off: reject the application and risk a different industrial use that could generate more truck and vehicle traffic, or approve a smaller, more extensively screened data center campus. Several board members credited the applicant with proffering a smaller footprint and architectural changes intended to reduce visual impact. Other supervisors said the substation’s location was still too close to homes and parks and expressed concern about precedent.

A motion to approve the special exception, made by Supervisor Umstead and seconded by Supervisor LeTourneau, produced a 4-4 split with one abstention. The board then voted to carry the item to the next business meeting for further consideration. The motion and second are recorded in the meeting minutes; the tally reported on the record was a 4-4 tie with 1 abstention and the item was placed on the agenda for the next business meeting for additional review.

The application drew extensive public comment from residents of the adjacent neighborhoods and from conservation and planning groups. Staff said the applicant had proffered noise studies, landscaping and a commitment that the substation would be a gas-insulated design and that the data center buildings would be oriented and architected as shown in submitted elevations.

What’s next: The item will return to the next Board of Supervisors business meeting for a final vote after additional fact-finding and follow-up requested by board members. Staff and the applicant may be asked to provide written clarifications about what notice (if any) homebuyers received at closing about data-center uses and whether the substation would be capable of serving other nearby campus developments.