Prince William Planning Commission recommends 120-day grace period for new, downsized data center district
The Prince William County Planning Commission has recommended a 120-day grace period for a new, significantly smaller Data Center Opportunity Zone Overlay District. This proposal, which will be considered by the Board of County Supervisors, seeks to eliminate by-right data center development, requiring future projects to obtain a special use permit.
The Prince William County Planning Commission has voted to recommend a significant change to the county's data center zoning regulations. The commission backed a proposal to drastically shrink the size and scope of the existing Data Center Opportunity Zone Overlay District, which currently allows data centers to be built by-right within its parameters.
A key aspect of the proposed amendment is the elimination of all by-right data center development in the future, meaning all new data center projects would require a special use permit and come before the Board of County Supervisors for final approval. The commission also recommended a 120-day grace period for these new rules, following an initial deadlock and a compromise vote of 5-3, with Occoquan District Commissioner Raheel Sheikh changing his vote to approve the four-month timeframe.
The Board of County Supervisors is scheduled to hold a public hearing on this zoning text amendment at its Sept. 22 meeting. This follows an earlier invalidation of the commission's July 15 deliberations due to improper public notice concerns, echoing issues that led to the downfall of the PW Digital Gateway project.