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Resident urges removing data centers from commercial zoning in Wythe County review
Summary
During Citizens’ Time on July 6, resident Andy Kegley urged commissioners to remove data centers from commercial zones — not merely require special‑use permits — citing concern about legal precedence if one is later approved in Progress Park; staff said the current direction is to require special use in both industrial and commercial zones.
A Wytheville resident told the Planning Commission on July 6 that the county should consider removing data centers from commercial zoning as the Land Use Ordinance is revised.
"If you have further consideration, I think it would behoove you to make commercial because you got lots more land in commercial…" said Andy Kegley of 840 Rose Hill Road, urging the commission to prevent data centers from being allowed in commercial districts even under a special‑use permit. Kegley argued that allowing such uses in commercial zoning could create local precedent — he said a future commission might be pressured to approve a similar facility if one exists nearby in Progress Park.
Deputy County Administrator Matt Hankins responded that the current direction from staff and the commission is to include a special‑use requirement in both industrial and commercial zones. Kegley raised additional questions about how the draft map treats specific properties — including a parcel referred to as the Rogg property near the Grahams Forge/Topaz Drive area — and whether established agricultural zoning would be grandfathered or subject to reclassification.
The exchange framed a central tension in the ordinance rewrite: whether to control potentially high‑impact uses by zoning classification (excluding them from commercial) or by permitting process (allowing them only by special use). The commission did not make a final policy change at the meeting but scheduled further work sessions and public input as staff prepare revised mapping and ordinance language.
