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Southampton County planning commission discusses data centers, asks staff to continue studying infrastructure and zoning
Summary
At its monthly meeting, the Southampton County Planning Commission reviewed a staff packet and a 2024 JLARC study on data centers, discussed infrastructure and environmental impacts, and directed staff to continue researching transmission, water and zoning thresholds before any regulatory change.
The Southampton County Planning Commission discussed the potential for data center development in the county and directed staff to continue researching infrastructure capacity and zoning options before proposing policy changes.
Secretary Randolph presented materials from a 2023–24 Joint Legislative Audit and Review Committee (JLARC) study and a staff PowerPoint, saying the packet summarized “the impacts of data center development in Virginia,” and that Southampton’s current zoning already lists “data processing centers” as a permitted use in M-1 industrial districts of 30 acres or more.
The commission’s conversation centered on three practical constraints: power, water and local zoning. Commissioners noted that large modern data centers can demand substantial electricity and water and that upgrades to high-voltage transmission lines or new generation capacity can be costly…
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