Panel recommends denial of Winchester Gateway data center
The Frederick County Planning Commission unanimously recommended denying a conditional-use permit for the Winchester Gateway data center campus. They also recommended approving an ordinance amendment that would remove data centers as an allowable use in the county's zoning. Both matters will now be considered by the Board of Supervisors with public hearings scheduled for September 23.
The Frederick County Planning Commission has unanimously recommended the denial of a conditional-use permit for the proposed Winchester Gateway data center campus in the Kernstown area. The commission also recommended approving a significant ordinance amendment that would remove data centers as an allowable use across all county zoning districts and delete the term "data center" from the county's zoning ordinance. Both critical decisions are now slated for public hearings and final consideration by the Board of Supervisors on September 23.
Winchester Gateway LLC's proposal for a nearly 72-acre campus, featuring three 60-foot buildings, an electrical substation, and an unspecified number of Tier IV diesel generators, has faced considerable opposition. Concerns include viewshed impacts on a nearby Civil War battlefield, voiced by the Kernstown Battlefield Association, and unresolved issues regarding additional electrical infrastructure and power demands. Despite the applicant's adjustments to water usage (35,000 GPD maximum), earthen berm buffers, and building setbacks, the maximum height of 60 feet (with rooftop equipment potentially exceeding this) remains a point of contention.
Should the Board of Supervisors approve the ordinance amendment, Frederick County would become the first locality in Virginia to remove data centers from its zoning ordinance, a move aimed at halting new data center development. This amendment, however, would not affect existing proposals like Winchester Gateway and the Virginia Technology Park, as they are grandfathered in. Planning Commissioner Justin Kerns cast the sole dissenting vote against the ordinance amendment, arguing that the current CUP process is adequate for regulating data centers. This marks the second data center project in recent months that the Planning Commission has recommended for denial, following the proposed 220-acre Virginia Technology Park.