Planning commission recommends Concord Industrial Park rezoning to supervisors after last-minute proffer memo; commissioners split

The Loudoun County Planning Commission on July 10 voted to forward the Concord Industrial Park rezoning and related special-exception requests to the Board of Supervisors with a recommendation of approval after the applicant provided a memorandum committing to several revisions to the application.

Erin Fisher, senior planner with the Department of Planning and Zoning, told commissioners the 17.2-acre site at the terminus of Executive Drive in the Sterling Election District is currently zoned Planned Development General Industrial (PDGI) under the 1972 zoning ordinance and contains four flex warehouses totaling roughly 269,000 square feet. The applicant proposed to rezone the property to the Industrial Park (IP) zoning district under the current ordinance, and requested special exceptions to raise the maximum floor area ratio for data center use from 0.6 to 0.8 (data-center use only) and to permit a major utility use (a utility substation) in the IP district.

Fisher said staff analyzed the application in the context of an influx of similar Route 28 corridor proposals converting older flex warehouse buildings to data center and industrial uses. Staff raised outstanding issues related to compatibility, transportation, wildlife habitat mitigation, building heights, open space versus the 2019 general plan place-type expectations, and proffer administration. The application originally included up to seven development options; six…