Goochland planning commission opens public hearing on Technology Overlay District; residents raise alarms over noise, 'by‑right' data centers and proposed SMRs

Goochland County staff presented a proposed Technology Overlay District (TOD) and a companion Technology Zone (TZ) intended to attract high‑revenue technology projects — including data centers and advanced manufacturing — while adding design standards, buffers and incentives. The planning commission opened a countywide public hearing that drew hundreds of residents; after extensive public comment the commission voted to continue the hearing to Thursday, Sept. 25 at 6:30 p.m.

Sarah Worley, the county’s deputy administrator for economic and community development, told the commission the TOD is intended to concentrate growth where infrastructure exists and to protect rural character elsewhere. “The Technology Overlay District and the Technology Zone are central to Goochland's countywide strategy: grow wisely, protect rural character, and diversify the tax base,” Worley said. She described three components: a technology zone (financial incentives), the TOD zoning standards, and a complementary ordinance providing additional incentives and flexibility for the Board of Supervisors and Economic Development Authority.

The TOD text would allow certain technology businesses by‑right in designated areas and add TOD standards (conceptual master plan, noise and height limits, screening, buffers and setbacks, dark‑sky lighting, and design standards). Staff said proposed protections include a 250‑foot vegetative buffer and a 300‑foot setback for data centers adjacent to residential zoning and limits on the siting of utility generating stations and energy storage (only within specified industrial/flexible subareas and at least 1,500 feet from residential zoning and the county line). Staff also described a 65‑decibel overnight noise limit for adjacent residential properties, with generator testing limited to two hours per day (Monday–Friday) and subject to required sound studies and post‑operation verification.

A large portion of the hearing was occupied by residents urging stronger protections or deferral. Arnold Rosenberg, speaking for the Mosaic at West Creek homeowners association, called the TOD a risk to neighborhoods and urged multiple changes: lower nighttime noise limits, making data centers and power facilities conditional‑use rather than by‑right, stricter height caps, deeper setbacks and no administrative waivers. “We cannot be half community and half industrial park,” Rosenberg said, asking the commission to delay action so staff could incorporate residents’ requests.

Residents and technical witnesses gave multiple examples and concerns: Dr. Timothy Staub (retired biotech CEO) warned that data centers build in clusters and will exploit maximum allowed heights and that generators and continuous equipment noise can be constant; a sound expert demonstrated what a continuous 65‑decibel level sounds like and argued modern AI data centers and their backup generators often exceed the TOD’s assumed noise profile. Several speakers with nuclear or energy backgrounds urged that Small Modular Reactors (SMRs) and utility generating stations be removed from by‑right allowances or at least be subject to conditional use permitting, citing lack of operational history in the U.S., waste‑disposal uncertainties, and emergency‑planning implications.

Other themes included concern about water and road capacity, the distribution of costs (speakers argued Districts 4 and 5 would shoulder infrastructure consequences), requests to increase open‑space minima to 30%, and calls for a property‑value assurance program. A subset of speakers supported the TOD in principle as preferable to unregulated by‑right development but asked for stronger protections, enforcement mechanisms, and explicit community benefits tied to any incentive agreements.

After roughly four hours of public testimony, a member moved to continue the public hearing to Sept. 25 so staff could consider additional changes and so more testimony could be heard; the motion passed (recorded as 4‑1). The commission will reconvene the hearing on Thursday, Sept. 25 at 6:30 p.m. in the Goochland High School Auditorium.

What’s next: staff will review the public comments and consider revisions to the TOD/TZ drafts; the planning commission will resume the hearing Sept. 25 and may forward recommendations to the Board of Supervisors, which has a public hearing scheduled for Nov. 6, 2025, depending on commission action.