Virginia Beach City Council pushes for ban of large-scale data centers in the city
The Virginia Beach City Council is actively pursuing a ban on large-scale data centers and hyperscalers within the city, with Mayor Bobby Dyer advocating for an outright prohibition. The Planning Commission is tasked with reviewing current zoning ordinances and recommending amendments, including potential conditional use permits for subsea cables and colocation facilities, and a ban on larger data centers. The City Council will ultimately vote on these recommendations.
The Virginia Beach City Council held a meeting to discuss current Data Center Zoning Regulations, where members expressed strong disinterest in large-scale data centers. Mayor Bobby Dyer explicitly called for an ordinance to ban larger types of data centers in Virginia Beach, a statement met with applause from attendees. Deputy City Manager Amanda Jarratt clarified that the city is not actively recruiting data centers or hyperscalers.
The city's directors of planning and IT, Kathy Warren and Peter Wallace, provided information on data centers and their environmental impacts, addressing what they described as misinformation. Following an April discussion by the Planning Commission, City Council members are now pushing for further restrictions and more discretion in the approval process for such facilities.
While Virginia Beach currently has subsea cables and colocation facilities, the City Council wants the Planning Commission to propose amendments to the current ordinance. These amendments would include requiring conditional use permits for any new subsea cables or colocation facilities and an outright ban on new data centers and hyperscalers. The Planning Commission will review the zoning ordinance and submit a recommendation to the City Council for a final vote at a later date.