The Agenda: Local government briefs for 6.8.26
The Chesterfield Board of Zoning Appeals denied an appeal by a landowner seeking to avoid a conditional-use permit requirement for a data center project on an 89-acre property. The landowner argued for vested rights under a previous ordinance, but the BZA upheld the planning director's determination. This means the data center project will still require a Conditional Use Permit under the county's current zoning ordinance.
The Chesterfield Board of Zoning Appeals (BZA) recently denied an appeal concerning the conditional-use permit (CUP) requirement for a proposed data center project. The appeal was brought by the owner of an 89-acre property at 1931 Old Bermuda Hundred Road in Chester, who sought to develop a data center without obtaining a CUP.
Attorney Clark Leming, representing the landowner, argued that his client possessed vested rights that should exempt the project from the new zoning ordinance, which took effect this year and reclassified data centers as conditional uses in Chesterfield County. Leming contended that the data center project and an adjacent substation project on Woods Edge Road, which received rezoning approval last year, constituted a singular development that should fall under the county’s previous, more permissive zoning ordinance.
However, the BZA upheld an earlier determination by the Chesterfield planning director, which stated that the landowner lacked the necessary vested rights for by-right development. Consequently, the data center project must proceed with securing a CUP as mandated by the updated county regulations. This decision means the landowner's attempt to bypass the CUP process was unsuccessful.