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Spotsylvania board directs rules for data centers after months of public concern
Summary
After hours of public comment and a joint work session with the Planning Commission, the Spotsylvania County Board of Supervisors directed staff to draft data‑center development standards that preserve vegetation, establish a 300‑foot buffer in sensitive contexts, require view‑shed analyses, and cap I‑2 building height at 75 feet.
The Spotsylvania County Board of Supervisors set a path Oct. 28 for new rules to govern data‑center development after a lengthy joint work session with the Planning Commission and more than two hours of public comment.
Developers, residents and county staff debated setbacks, visual screening, generator standards and water use as the board weighed a range of proposals. Nicholas Cummings, a land‑use attorney for a potential purchaser of a site rezoned for data‑center use in 2023, told the board applicants seek predictability and urged the county not to apply new standards retroactively to recent rezonings. "We ask that you instead please strongly consider allowing sites that were approved for data center use with the rezoning within the last five years or so to keep their rights," he said (public comment).
Several developers asked the board to avoid a blanket 1,000‑foot setback. Kyle Crosby of Kettler, which owns the Crossroads Technology Campus…
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