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A planned 160-acre data center campus adjacent to Prince William Forest Park has been withdrawn from Board of County Supervisors consideration for the time being.
Quantico Ridge, a proposed data center project in the Potomac District that was set to come before the board during Tuesday鈥檚 meeting, was removed from its scheduled public hearing at the request of the applicant, Highland Properties Manassas LLC.
The proposal had taken the form of a comprehensive plan amendment that would have altered the property鈥檚 long-range land-use designation from office mixed use, residential neighborhood and parks and open space to industrial and parks and open space. The land is on the south side of Dumfries Road near its intersection with Minnieville Road.
Potomac District Supervisor Andrea Bailey declined to comment for this story via a representative for her office.
In a statement provided to InsideNoVa, Kyle Hart, Mid-Atlantic senior program manager at the National Parks Conservation Association, hailed the withdrawal.
鈥淭he proposal to build data centers adjacent to Prince William Forest Park remains one of the greatest threats facing the park today,鈥� the statement read. 鈥淒ata centers do not belong next to national parks 鈥� not now, not ever. The developer must abandon this poorly conceived proposal and the Prince William County Board of Supervisors must remain steadfast in opposing any data center development near our national parks.鈥�
According to county documents, the amendment contained four caveats for the proposal, including:
- A conservation easement on the portion of the property remaining as parks and open space within the concurrent rezoning application request
- A reduction of the visual impact of the data center buildings from the public right-of-way through measures such as increasing the front buffer and/or front setback
- Locating the electrical substation behind the data center buildings to minimize visibility from the public right-of-way
- Coordination with the Planning and Sustainability Office to reduce environmental impacts and energy consumption of the data center through more sustainable site and building design practices.
Ann Bennett, land use chair for the Sierra Club鈥檚 Great Falls chapter, expressed similar concern at the proposal and called protection of the park a 鈥渘o-brainer.鈥�
鈥淣o industry has so swiftly contributed more to industrial sprawl, deforestation, and land loss than data centers,鈥� Bennett said in a statement. 鈥淚ncreasingly, we compete with the data centers for open space, intact forests and drinking water. Prince William Forest Park helps protect Quantico Creek and its large stands of trees offering respite from the heat. Local officials have a responsibility to Prince William County residents and all Americans for whom the national parks play a key role in outdoor recreation, trails, gathering and natural resource preservation.鈥�
