Supervisors Seek to Halt 10M Square Feet of Data Centers in Loudoun’s By-Right Pipeline

Loudoun County Supervisors Juli E. Briskman (D-Algonkian) and Laura A. TeKrony (D-Little River) are seeking to halt an estimated 10 million square feet of "by-right" data center development that is currently moving through the county's application process. The supervisors are proposing to revoke a policy adopted last year, which allowed these projects to bypass specific Board approval and proceed with only staff-level review.

This proposed change comes in response to growing resident concerns regarding the negative impacts of data center expansion, including noise, pollutants from generators, water consumption, property devaluation, and environmental damage. The current grandfathering resolution, passed in March 2025 by a narrow 5-4 vote, allowed applications submitted before February 12, 2025, to be reviewed under previous, less stringent zoning regulations until March 2028. Many applications, including some totaling 17 million square feet initially, were covered by this provision.

Briskman and TeKrony, who both voted against the grandfathering resolution originally, plan to introduce an item on September 1 to have the policy expire immediately. They argue that data centers are incompatible with residential areas, schools, and parks, and that the county is oversaturated. They aim to bring these by-right applications into the public process, allowing residents a meaningful opportunity to be heard.

If successful, the proposal would subject numerous data center projects, currently protected by the grandfathering clause, to the Board of Supervisors' direct approval, a requirement for all new data center applications since March 2025.