King George Board of Supervisors defends settlement with Amazon
The King George County Board of Supervisors defended its settlement with Amazon over the company’s proposed data center campus at the Birchwood Power facility. The agreement recognizes Amazon’s vested development rights, provides $10 million for a county schools career and technical education building, and bars data center construction along the Rappahannock River, while water and other project agreements remain unresolved.
The King George County Board of Supervisors defended a settlement resolving Amazon Web Services’ lawsuit over the county’s denial of the company’s request for vested-rights recognition for a planned data center campus at the 869-acre Birchwood Power property. Under the agreement, Amazon receives acknowledgment of its development rights and the county will not rezone the property to block construction.
In exchange, Amazon will provide $10 million toward a King George Public Schools career and technical education building and will not build data centers along the Rappahannock River portion of the property. Board Chair David Sullins said the agreement addressed the zoning dispute while preserving the river view, though residents remain divided over whether the county should have continued fighting the company.
Water remains a major unresolved issue. Amazon withdrew an application to the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality for permission to withdraw up to 6.4 million gallons annually from the Potomac aquifer after concerns about aquifer stress, but it retains a permit to withdraw up to 6.6 million gallons per day from the Rappahannock River. County officials said negotiations continue over water use, a performance agreement and future tax revenue.