Property Values

Realtors consider schools, shopping, restaurants within 2 miles of homes an asset but not data centers. Poor zoning does not help residential or business resales.

The County would like to continue to allow data centers by-right in industrial districts, with no size limitation in the I-5 district which exist in abundance near or adjacent to the Pleasant Valley neighborhood.

Chantilly Mega Data Center Archive

Realtors consider schools, shopping, restaurants within 2 miles of homes an asset but not warehouses and data centers. Poor zoning does not help residential or business resales.

Key Points

Details

Property devaluation started during the pandemic. The entire 79-acres was zoned I-3 light industrial (low-rise office buildings, schools, etc) but part of it was rezoned during the pandemic (which is legally questionable) to a heavier industrial I-5 use which does not benefit property resale values or the environmentally sensitive area in which the property is located and goes against the Board of Supervisors priority “to protect our drinking water, air quality, stream valleys and tree canopy”.  With the rezoning so close to the Pleasant Valley neighborhood, noise, visual eyesore of a data center (especially immediately adjacent to Auto Park buildings that are less than 30 feet tall), increased industrial use, flood risk, and environmental impacts would all negatively impact the resale value of the homes in the Pleasant Valley neighborhood. Realtors consider schools, shopping, restaurants within 2 miles of homes an asset but not warehouses and data centers.

Truck access requires access through Lafayette Business Park negatively impacting businesses and homes. The proposed truck route provided by the applicant makes Pleasant Valley Rd and the 2-lane Lafayette Center Drive, with an on-road bicycle path, a major highway artery for hundreds of trucks daily (warehouse option) that will drive passed child daycare centers, doctors offices and within 300 yards of many homes in the Pleasant Valley neighborhood, negatively impacting traffic and quality of life. Development Review Branch (DRB) “continues to request that a noise study be performed as part of this entitlement phase to identify the anticipated transportation noise levels” yet this has been ignored. The proposed route and lack of a transportation study, conflict with the guidelines for Land Unit H and the Comprehensive Plan requirements “to protect existing residential areas from the encroachment of commercial development” and “to ensure that surrounding uses are not negatively impacted by this higher intensity.

PARTIAL SUCCESS! Applicant unwilling to dedicate the remaining 67-acres. The applicant originally indicated their unwillingness to perform the expensive cleanup required prior to dedicating the remaining 67-acres of land to the Park Authority, preferring  to choose the cheaper monetary donation to the Park Authority ($108,540 (data center option) or $40,500 (warehouse option)). The 9/14/23 proffers make the dedication the first option but giving the Park Authority the option to refuse if the cleanup is not satisfactory which would then default to the monetary donation, still leaving open the option for future rezoning. There are 2 vacant lots that are adjacent to the applicant property, and closer to the Pleasant Valley neighborhood, that can be purchased for more data center / warehouse options.

The mega data center would be the tallest in Fairfax County, no working comparison. The mega data center will be the tallest in Fairfax County (the next highest is on Rt 28 in Herndon at 102 feet) requiring more HVAC systems and diesel generators, and conflicts with the size guidelines for Land Unit H and the Comprehensive Plan requirements “to protect existing residential areas from the encroachment of commercial development” and “to ensure that surrounding uses are not negatively impacted by this higher intensity.” The mega data center will tower over the adjacent buildings by more than 80 feet, will rise 50 feet or more above the tree tops, and has no working comparison within the county which begs the question of why the County is not waiting on the Board of Supervisors directed 2023 year-end report on the impacts of data centers and the process for properly locating them.


No benefit to surrounding uses. Many people purchase their “forever” homes, raise a family, use the equity in that home to send their kids to college. Businesses in the Chantilly Auto Park and Lafayette Business Center did not expect to have to deal with a rezoning to a heavier industrial use. What is the benefit to nearby residents and businesses of rezoning a light industrial area to a more heavily industrial one to accommodate a mega data center or heavily truck-trafficked warehouse?