What's next for the Digital Gateway data center appeal to the Virginia Supreme Court?

Data center developer QTS is pursuing an appeal to the Virginia Supreme Court following a March 31 Virginia Court of Appeals ruling that upheld the cancellation of the massive PW Digital Gateway data center campus in western Prince William County. The Digital Gateway project, near Gainesville, was planned to be the world's largest data center campus, spanning over 2,000 acres. The legal challenges against the project stem from county rezonings approved in December 2023. QTS' petition to appeal must first clear procedural hurdles, with a "writ panel" of three Supreme Court justices scheduled to hear 20-minute arguments from QTS' defense counsel in late May or early June. The plaintiffs, including the Oak Valley Homeowners Association and the American Battlefield Trust, will not appear before this panel, which will decide whether the Supreme Court will hear the appeal. Mac Haddow, president of the Oak Valley Homeowners Association, noted that the Supreme Court's decision to hear the appeal is discretionary, with no set timeline for a ruling after the panel session. The plaintiffs have until May 21 to file their opposition to QTS' appeal petition. In a related development, fellow developer Compass Datacenters chose to end its appeal of the Digital Gateway lawsuits on April 28, a decision that followed Prince William County's earlier move to withdraw its legal defense of the rezonings, which had cost the county over $1.7 million.