Save Pleasant Valley from Data Center / Industrial Over Development

You rezone because doing so benefits the County and community, not because it benefits the owner.

UPDATE 5/3/2025: Expansion of Radjhani Mandir Temple Approved

Thank you to all who testified, unfortunately the BZA approved both requests (summarized below) without addressing our concerns of traffic, pedestrian safety, barrier/screening/buffer requirements, and venting of the new commercial kitchen.

SPA 87-S-012-04 is for the existing temple building at 4525 Pleasant Valley Rd. The request will triple the building size (8,000 Square Feet to 30,650 SF), increase the number of worshippers from 250 to 700, reduce onsite parking (but still meets county requirements), install a commercial kitchen, and add a senior center (in 3 phases - see pg 23 of the PDF). The request also was approved for reducing the zoning requirement of 35 feet, and removing the requirement to add more trees and a fence (buffer for homes on Cub Run reduced to 25 feet at some points, and the existing vegetation is expected to be enough).
SP-2022-SU-00161 constructs a new 13,600 square foot building and 128 spots parking area across the street (Pleasant Valley Rd), with a capacity for 300 persons for special religious events and gatherings. There is no sidewalk or safe crossing planned for accessing the temple across the street.

DATA CENTERS NEAR PLEASANT VALLEY

Pleasant Valley is nearly surrounded by industrial districts. In addition to the 2 buildings on Rt 50, there are 3 approved sites (Chantilly Premier, Pepsi Ln, and AWS Westfax) and one by-right under review on Bogle Dr for which the county issued a decision to restrict the Bogle Dr data center campus (outlined in red in image) to the 1986 proffers requiring no greater that 0.6 F.A.R. The current total SF is over 2.2 million square feet of data centers between 1300 and 5000 feet from our community.

NBC4's video coverage of the Meadows of Chantilly mobile home community; a by-right data center (4101 Westfax Dr) was approved despite protections granted to the community. A Special Exception requires Comprehensive Plan guidance and gives the ability to mitigate impacts and deny any application.

Questions? Email us at cspv@theshangs.com.

Great Blue Heron's spotted at rookery

2025 image courtesy of Mike Graham

The birds have returned to the Great Blue Heron Rookery near the Chantilly Premier Data Center site! According to 2023 Virginia Department of Wildlife the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, the Great Blue Heron has Time of Year Restrictions limiting construction activities and maintaining buffers: "February 15 through July 31 for activities w/in 0.25 mile of rookery or high intensity activity w/in 0.5 mile of rookery; maintain undisturbed naturally vegetated buffer of at least 500 ft around rookery". We will continue to assist with protecting this species.

Data center lawsuits - see section below.

Health and Environmental Impacts

NOISE - low frequency noise emitted by data centers travels farther and causes health issues and is detrimental to pets, wildlife and the forest

AIR - diesel exhaust from trucks and generators reduces air quality (since early 2023 over 4,000 data center diesel generators and counting)

WATER - diesel fuel, diesel exhaust fluid and diesel emissions threaten our drinking water

Economic Impacts

AREA CHARACTER - by-right data centers bypass the Comprehensive Plan, eroding the character of the area

PROPERTY VALUES - nearby data centers are not a selling point.

ELECTRICAL/FINANCIAL IMPACTS - increased electrical rates due to data center infrastructure needs that we pay for - not them.

VISIT THE ARCHIVE PAGE FOR PAST DATA CENTER ACTIONS AND DOCUMENTATION

Data Center Lawsuits

Devlin Park: Lawsuit against the rezoning of 270 acres of mixed residential to Devlin Technology Park for 9 data centers and 3 substations, was dismissed.

Prince William County Digital Gateway:

There are two lawsuits against the largest data center campus in the world with 23 million square feet of data centers and an undetermined amount of substations on 2,100 acres adjacent to Manassas Battlefield National Park.

1) Oak Valley HOA lawsuit is against the rezoning changes to the Comprehensive Plan which had many procedural missteps. Please make your check payable to "Oak Valley HOA" and write in the memo line "LDF-Oak Valley", and mail your check to the following address:

Sequoia Management for Oak Valley HOA

13998 Parkeast Circle

Chantilly, VA 20151-2272

2) American Battlefield Trust and ProtectPWC have appealed the December 2024 decision to dismiss. Visit ProtectPWC.org to donate to Prince William Digital Gateway lawsuit appeal.

County Zoning Ordinance

Board of Supervisor's passed the Data Center Zoning Amendment September 10th. Industrial districts (I-5 and I-6 unlimited, I-3 and I-4 up to 80,000 SQFT) are still a free-for-all and, in our area, data centers are allowed to be twice as big as anywhere else in the county. Unfortunately, Supervisor Smith did not agree that the disparity between our area and the rest of the county should be remedied (i.e. by requiring the Special Exception process (the floor-area-ratio is much less in our area through the Special Exception process) or by having a size limit). 11.7 million SF of data centers existing, approved, or in site plan review - 8 million of which are in Sully.

Visit Fairfax County NewsCenter to read a summary of the ordinance.

The testimony that was presented Tuesday, July 16, 2024 Public Hearing remains in the record in addition to the September 10, final public hearing - timestamp 6:59.

In the News

RALLY Against Data Center Sprawl, JULY 10th coverage: ABC7 and Annandale Today

Some pre-Hearing Rally and Board of Supervisors Hearing: FFXNow, ConnectionNewspapers, FairfaxTimes, AnnandaleToday, Fox 5, ABC7, NBC4

Virginia's 'Data Center Alley' residents say an eerie hum is keeping them up at night - Business Insider article on complaints of the constant noise being heard by residents over 3 miles away from a Leesburg data center. The True North data center is located at 20632 Sycolin Road and is a 75MW data center of approximately 500,000 SF; similar in square footage and capacity to the proposed 110-foot tall Chantilly Premier except that it is only a single story data center (height: 25.5 feet per the site plan).

Fairfax County residents speak out against data center proposal, ask local leaders where they stand WJLA, ABC7 News 10/24/2023 interview - although the implication of towering over Pleasant Valley is not accurate, it is accurate that the data center will tower over all adjacent buildings and be the tallest building for miles.

https://youtu.be/K4ssT6Dzmnw?si=_SlzKiNixyPD6Mcb This 60-minute piece on Quantum computing helps explain why the building may become obsolete.

Chantilly residents concerned over proposed data center near Dulles Airport NBC4 News, July 2023

ALL of Virginia is at Risk! the wealthiest industry in the world has been freeloading off citizens to pay for the very ability to operate their data centers.

Northern Virginia’s Data Center Industry Is Booming. But Is It Sustainble? Northern Virginia’s staggering 47.7 million square feet of data center space, with 6.7 million square feet under construction and another 45 million planned but the power grid can't handle it.

Scientific Study Says Data Center Noise Would Hinder Operations at Bristow, Gainesville Schools

Diesel fuel spill/leak in Germantown, Tennesee contaminated the drinking water.

Development Brings 'Human Cost to Our Families' - article on the July 27the Supervisor Smith meeting. Although the article mentions 80 people - Cynthia Shang handed out 80 fact sheets and by the time she spoke, it was standing room only - so more like 100 people with, we now know, over 20 people online. A small typo on the size of the Auto Park buildings (40' vs 30') but an overall fantastic article.

No Noise is Good Noise - a community which is almost the same distance from the data center as we would be.

Huge data center could threaten water supply - Proposed data center in Chantilly has the potential for damaging water and air quality throughout the county.

Chantilly residents concerned over proposed data center - NBC4 news coverage

DCNewsNow - report on volatility of data center revenue

What’s all the data center noise about? "Neighbors say Northern Virginia data centers emit a noise they just can't tune out. We took to the streets and dove in to the science to figure out why." This article has a sound bite from a smaller data center

Toxic Clouds and Dirty Data - data centers are more polluting then you may think. Watch the video.

Nuclear Power - Environmentally friendly data centers are possible. Data centers consume around 25 percent of Virginia's energy.

Air Pollution Risk in Older Adults - In a cohort study of millions of Medicare beneficiaries, the researchers found that exposures to PM2.5 and NO2 over a 10-year period increased the risk of developing colorectal and prostate cancers. The researchers also found that even low levels of air pollution exposure may make people particularly susceptible to developing these cancers

Scientific Study Says Data Center Noise Would Hinder Operations at Schools - Data center HVAC systems produce a low hum, which the brain has difficulty filtering out. Lyver contends that so many large data buildings all within close proximity would amplify the sound. That level of sound could travel as far as 2.5 miles.

Data Center Legislation: How New Laws Affect Industry Growth - state legislation hoping to curb data center growth

On cloud nine: Virginia is world’s data center capital, reaping billions - Prices for land in Loudoun County have climbed to between $2 million and $3 million per acre for data center properties.

Board of Supervisors says no to more overhead power lines for data centers - Unlike Fairfax County, in Fauquier County Data centers are allowed in business park-zoned districts, provided they meet certain conditions, such as using recycled water for cooling and placing all power lines underground, according to the county’s current zoning ordinance.

Warehouse & Distribution Center Impacts To Neighborhoods – discusses sound travel on homes above the elevation of a facility, health concerns and impacts to property value.

Past Events

Board of Supervisors Public Hearings on the Data Center Zoning Ordinance Amendment: The testimony that was presented Tuesday, July 16, 2024 Public Hearing will remain in the record. September 10, final public hearing - timestamp 6:59.

Sunday June 2, Rally Against Unchecked Data Center Growth News story.

June 5 and 6 Planning Commission Hearings click here for videos of the hearings. Planning Commission recommendations, click here.

June 6 Dominion Energy Open House regarding the new power lines and substations for the data centers on Rt 50 between Stonecroft Blvd and Avion Pkwy.

Virtual Public Input Meeting on Zoning Ordinance Changes for Data Centers Fairfax County hosted 4 virtual meetings for the public to weigh in on Zoning Ordinance changes for Data Centers. You can view the recordings from https://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/planning-development/data-centers. In addition, questions and comments can be directed to Carmen Bishop, Deputy Zoning Administrator, at 703-324-1314, or ffx-data-centers@PublicInput.com until May 17th.

Click here to see Summary comments on draft proposal. Click here to see sample letter to send or gain inspiration from.

We know with the approval of the Mega Data Center, more will come. Pleasant Valley is surrounded on the north and east with industrial districts (I-3 thru I-5 (see image)) where data centers can be built by right (unlike the Mega Data Center process where we got to weigh in). Given the rapidly changing technology and increased electrical demands, the county and electrical providers cannot keep pace with the issues of noise, electrical consumption (AI servers need 5 times more power) and water consumption unless the by-right designation for data centers is removed; only through the Special Exception process can the impact of a data center on communities, the electrical grid and water be fully evaluated.

September 20, 2023 Planning Commission Public Hearing - After hours of testimony, including that of Acoustician Professor Boren, the new county streamlined process prevented the Commissioners from deferring a vote in order to get more information. Poised to defer, the County Staff said they were 98 days into a 100-day deadline and deferring was no longer an option and a non-vote would mean an approval. The Staff stated that the clock started ticking June 14 when the first Staff Report was issued. The numerous facts presented by 20 speakers on the negative impacts of the noise on Pleasant Valley residents, were ignored in favor of the promise of real estate tax revenue from the enormous size of the data center building, putting profits before people and the environment. Commissioner Spain had a prepared motion and the application was approved with 3 commissioners (Cortina, Ulfelder, and Murphy) abstaining and one recusing himself (Sargeant).

September 6, 2023 Sv. Smith/Com. Spain meeting - Meeting with Supervisor Kathy Smith and Planning Commissioner Evelyn Spain in which we hand-delivered 494 signed letters of opposition. Thanks to all who participated!

July 27, 2023, 6:30pm Community Meeting with Sv. Smith - this meeting was a Q&A with Supervisor Kathy Smith, county staff and the applicant. Although we requested to host the meeting within walking distance of the Pleasant Valley community, we were required to meet at the Sully Government Center. Over 100 people attended in person (standing room only!) and over 20 dialed-in. Supervisor Smith and staff discussed the process and the applicant presented. Unfortunately the Q&A period was short and many questions went unanswered.

June 19, 2023 7:00pm SDC Land Use (Applicant Presentation 2) - this meeting was hosted by the Sully District Council as a follow up with the applicant and raised more concerns about noise from the data center and U-turns of semi-trucks at Pleasant Valley Rd (warehouse option) because the auto dealerships will not allow entry/exit through the auto park, leaving only east bound Rt. 50.

June 15, 2023 6:30 pm Sv. Smith Meeting (cancelled) - Special thanks to Chantilly Bible Church for opening their amazing facility for this event. Despite Supervisor Smith's office sending an email 2 hours prior to the meeting cancelling and directing the staff not to attend, we still met with folks who came out and were able to communicate the issues. Thank you for all who attended!

May 15, 2023, 7:00 pm SDC Land Use (Applicant Presentation 3) - Sully District Council hosted a presentation meeting at the Sully Government Center, 4900 Stonecroft Boulevard, Chantilly, VA. There was an impressive turnout from the Pleasant Valley community - thank you to the 40-plus residents who attended!

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