Commission forwards Luckstone/Cochrane Mill data‑center rezoning to supervisors after reducing building height; staff flagged stream impacts

The Planning Commission on April 10 forwarded the Luckstone (Cochrane Mill) application to the Board of Supervisors with a recommendation of approval after the applicant reduced proposed building heights and committed to enhanced roadway buffering, while staff continued to identify outstanding natural-resource and visual-compatibility concerns.

Allison Britton (Department of Planning and Zoning) summarized the revised submittal: the applicant reduced the maximum proposed building height from a previously-proposed 105 feet to 70 feet, reduced the overall square footage to 989,000 square feet of data-center space and committed to enhanced landscaping and berming along Cochran Mill Road. Staff noted the 2019 General Plan anticipates lower building profiles in this place type (roughly a four‑story/48‑foot equivalent) and recommended additional setbacks and more uniform enhanced buffers where buildings are closest to the roadway.

Environmental concerns: the subject site abuts Sicklin Creek and contains multiple stream channels. Staff advised the commission that proposed building locations could significantly impact stream channels and that the applicant should relocate buildings where feasible to minimize impacts. The applicant told the commission they had removed requests to encroach into the Scenic Creek Valley buffer and had committed to about 22 combined acres of tree conservation and reforestation and to additional low-impact development (LID) stormwater measures.

Visual simulations and screening: the applicant provided sight-line cross sections and computer simulations showing the 70-foot option reduced the visual massing compared with the earlier 105-foot scheme. The applicant also committed to a 60-foot enhanced landscape buffer (with doubled planting quantities and a berm) where the site faces the DC United practice fields; the applicant proposed the standard roadway corridor buffer elsewhere along Cochran Mill Road but said the berm and plantings provide additional screening.

Vote and outcome: the commission voted to forward the rezoning to the Board with a recommendation of approval. The motion passed 6–1–1 (one commissioner opposed; one abstention; one absent). Staff reiterated a site-plan level permitting risk: stream/wetland impacts will require state and federal permitting (DEQ/Army Corps) and, if mitigation options are limited, the final site plan may need to be revised.

Next steps: the Board of Supervisors will consider the rezoning and the planning commission’s findings. County staff and the applicant will pursue permitting work, and the applicant indicated it expects to pursue detailed wetland/stream permitting and to refine tree-conservation and stormwater measures during site plan review.