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Campbell County board adopts emergency ordinance to return data centers to special-use review
Summary
After extended public comment and staff explanation of an advertising omission, the board voted 5–2 to adopt an emergency ordinance immediately requiring special-use permits for data centers; staff said existing vested projects may still proceed under vested-rights law.
Campbell County supervisors voted 5–2 to adopt an emergency ordinance that immediately moves data centers from a by-right industrial use to a special-use-permit requirement. The vote came after a prolonged public comment period in which scores of residents urged the board to restore local oversight of large data-center projects.
Staff attorney Tripp Eisenhower told the board the change was needed because a previously approved motion to reclassify data centers had been omitted from the published advertisement by staff. “Under the code, 15 Virginia code 15.21427, the board is authorized to adopt any ordinance it chooses without going through the public hearing process so long as it's adopted under emergency authority,” Eisenhower said, explaining the legal path for immediate adoption followed by a public hearing within 60 days.
Residents pressing the board for immediate action framed the issue as one of local control and environmental risk. “I'm pleading please vote no to the right by right use of data centers and make it special use permit only,” said Brandy Hatcher during the public-comment period, citing concerns about aquifers, light and noise pollution, and higher utility costs for nearby households.
Board members and staff discussed legal limits on changing approvals that have already vested. Eisenhower said vested rights protect applicants who have received a significant affirmative governmental act — for example, an approved site plan, zoning permit, proffer acceptance or special-use permit — and that a use can become “stale” if the applicant does not actively pursue it for roughly two years. He advised the board that an emergency ordinance would apply to future applicants but would not automatically nullify projects with vested rights.
Supervisor Klein moved the emergency adoption; the motion carried on a 5–2 roll call. The ordinance takes effect immediately; staff must hold a public hearing and return the matter to the board within 60 days to consider permanent readoption. The board did not, in this meeting, reverse any projects already determined to have vested rights — staff said remedies for those instances are limited to the statutory appeal processes.
