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Culpeper ARB recommends approval for Rabbit Run data center campus with enhanced screening
Summary
The Culpeper County Architectural Review Board recommended a certificate of appropriateness for a two‑building Rabbit Run data center campus, approving the design with added landscaping, berming and lighting adjustments after applicant revisions and ARB discussion.
The Culpeper County Architectural Review Board voted to recommend a certificate of appropriateness for the Rabbit Run data center campus, approving the applicant’s concept plans with conditions on landscaping and site screening.
Neil, a county staff presenter, opened the ARB review and said the project requires a certificate under Article 30 of the zoning ordinance and that the board may balance design guidelines with economic realities. He described the site at the James Madison Highway/Route 3 intersection in the Stevensburg magisterial district and noted the two proposed buildings sit below the 75‑foot district height limit at roughly 61 feet.
Cody Mudd, project manager with Boller Engineering, walked the board through the two‑building campus, noting the buildings are set back 20–30 feet from Germanna Highway and oriented so mechanical equipment faces away from primary roadways. "We're really shielding all of the mechanical equipment... even on the roofs, any rooftop equipment, it will have parapets," Mudd said, describing a combined strategy of parapets, facade articulation and robust landscape buffering to limit visibility from public streets.
Architect Michael Malone (CI Design) told the ARB that rooftop equipment will require airflow and that louvers or different parapet materials will be used to allow ventilation while visually screening equipment. Malone said the metal panel systems and varied facade bands are intentionally composed to reduce the apparent mass of the building.
Commissioners pressed the applicant on sight lines at the entrance, existing power‑line easements, the height of proposed light poles (applicant initially referenced 28 feet) and tree canopy retention during drought. The applicant agreed to review sight‑distance profiles, affirmed Dominion maintains the power lines along Germanna (not on the applicant’s property), and said lighting could be lowered to conform with code preferences.
A motion to grant the certificate was made, amended to include additional berming, clarification of existing tree gaps on the site plan, and lighting adjustments, and the ARB voted to send the application forward with a recommendation of approval. The ARB noted that approved landscape and configuration elements will be incorporated into the final site plan approval.
