by Chap Petersen

On December 11, 2023, a small group of citizens stood outside the Prince William County Government Complex, distributing a letter delivered to the County Board that morning. The letter, drafted by your humble correspondent, pointed out that the County had failed to properly advertise its upcoming December 12th public hearing re “the Digital Gateway” — the largest data center park in human history — and, therefore, any result would be void.

The next day, the late Bob Weir (R-Gainesville) formally asked the Board to set the hearing back two weeks. The motion was defeated. After a 27-hour hearing, the “lame duck” Board approved the Digital Gateway on a 4-3-1 vote.

The message was clear: the County and the data center developers had all the money and all the power. Who was going to stop them?

This week, that person stepped forward: Circuit Court judge Kimberly Irving. In a brilliant 18-page opinion, Judge Irving affirmed the obvious, i.e. the County had violated state law in proceeding with the December 12th hearing and it was not entitled to any legislative exception.

With Judge Irving’s opinion, millions of tax dollars spent by the County to “defend” the indefensible fell by the wayside, as did a previous Circuit Court opinion which stated (incredibly) that the County was entitled to “win” on the notice hearing issue, without any sort of trial. 

Judge Irving’s opinion did more than just resolve one land use dispute. It reminds us that we are a Commonwealth of laws — and not just corporate donors.

There is a statewide election pending. Neither gubernatorial candidate has spoken on the Digital Gateway or our current Governor. How about now?   How about something like this:

Data centers may be a vital resource in our 21st century economy, but they should be limited to designated industrial zones. They cannot and should not impact historic areas, parklands or residential communities. Their associated infrastructure should not be paid for by ordinary citizens. The status quo is out of control and will disfigure our Virginia landscape for generations. As Governor, I will send down legislation to address the proliferation of data centers — and I don’t give a damn how many contributions I might lose.

Such a pronouncement would radically shake up the politics in this state, which have gotten staid and boring. Roll over Spanberger and tell Glenn Younkin the news ...      

Chap Petersen is an attorney in Northern Virginia. This column has been republished with permission from his Substack account, The Virginia Attorney.