With more data center development expected in Spotsylvania, the board spent much of Tuesday's regular meeting considering options and implications on regulations and zoning ordinances.
The board eventually voted 4-3 to approve a zoning ordinance change requiring special-use permits for data centers in commercial, agricultural and industrial districts.
The measure is not final. It will go to the Planning Commission, which will hold a public hearing before making a recommendation and sending it back to the supervisors, which also will hold a public hearing.
Spotsylvania Director of Planning and Zoning Kimberly Pomatto defined the move as a "stop-gap" measure to help the county handle continued data center development while it also is working with a consultant to develop more definitive regulations as part of an overall zoning ordinance update.
In her presentation, Pomatto highlighted data center projects and other potential projects.
County approved Amazon-related data centers cover 10 million square feet and more than 1,000 acres.
Other potential data center projects could be developed on another 353 acres in the county. There are other pending projects that could result in data center buildings totaling more than 16 million square feet on more than 1,200 acres.
Also, there are another 3,452 acres of by-right data center potential on industrial zoned land.
The county work with the consultant has resulted in considerations for future data center regulations, including limiting permitted zoning districts, enhancing setbacks from other properties, landscaping, façade requirements, fencing, noise limitations and utilities.
During Tuesday's discussions, the supervisors focused much of their attention on buffer zones between data centers and residential areas.
The county's current zoning for data centers on industrial properties includes a maximum vegetative buffer of 50 feet between data center and residential properties. And the vegetation could be newly planted and take years to mature.
Pomatto pointed out that Amazon's county data center projects included 200 foot buffer zones, which she called "the gold standard."
Supervisor Lori Hayes said county staff has done a "superb job" with planning for the development of data centers.
But she added that things keep changing in the data center industry and the county needs to adjust, too.
The Lee Hill district representative likes that the county is analyzing the issue, pointing out that they are in the "modification" stage with data center ordinances. She also hopes the county can learn from the struggle of some Northern Virginia localities and data center development.
Hayes said her key concern is the impact on residential areas. She also favors special-use permits as a way to regulate data center development.
She made the special-use motion approved by the board.
"We know that we have many of these coming and we need to put some protections in," Hayes said.
Supervisor Drew Mullins (Courtland) agreed about protecting residential areas, emphasizing the importance of buffer zones. He supported the special-permit motion.
Berkeley District Supervisor Kevin Marshall agreed on the importance of buffer zones, but added that they should be careful to note property variations and targeting a specific business type.
He noted that the buffers could vary depending on the topography, explaining that a buffer could be smaller in thickly wooded areas.
Marshall voted against the special-use permit motion.
Gerald Childress (Chancellor) also voted against the motion, but he agreed that the county should have buffers and other requirements. He thinks special-use permit requirements might be pushing it too far, especially with an industry that is such a growing and financially positive for the county.
Jacob Lane (Livingston District) said data centers are good financially, but noted he wants to make sure the county isn't taken advantage of. He added that he would be OK with special-use requirements. He supported the special-use motion.
Deborah Frazier (Salem) said she was "in the middle right now" with data centers and regulations, adding that she wanted to make sure the county was processing all of the information. She voted against the motion.
Board Chairman Chris Yakabouski (Battlefield), who supported the measure, said they are learning as they go and there is no one-size-fits-all approach to data center development.
The chairman said he wants to be business-friendly but doesn't want the county to become like Northern Virginia localities where data centers "are everywhere ... and people there have gotten used to it. It's noise, it's a mess. I don't want that here."
© 2025 The Free Lance-Star (Fredericksburg, Va.). Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.