The Land Use Subcommittee met to discuss a draft position paper on data center development, along with updates on several land-use applications and heritage projects. The meeting was called to order at 5:36 p.m. (the agenda listed Sept. 14, 2026, but the meeting occurred on Sept. 17 per official record).
The subcommittee extensively reviewed a draft letter/position paper addressing data center growth in Loudoun County. Key points:
Attendance. The agenda. We are called to order at 536. We can begin with the discussion of the data center position paper, which is actually under new business since we have passed out a copy of that position paper. If everyone is willing to sort of jump over the old business. Is that the letter? Is a position paper? Well, yes, we can decide what it is we want it to be. It can be a letter, it can be a position paper, it can be um whatever it is we want it to be. We are in control of how it is we want to do it, and uh we can then decide tonight or not to bring it to the full commission. I am expecting that data center, regardless of what we do in our land use committee is going to be a subject of discussion at the full commission since it's a huge subject of discussion in the community one way or the other. And I would like to be prepared to offer this as something the full commission can do. I also want to be prepared to offer this as something we can deliver to the board tonight or tomorrow, although Jean, I've been Jean, the chair of the full commission as of right now is hoping we can deliver it in October, but that's something that we as a committee uh subcommittee can discuss. Um you have the letter. I will say um I feel as if, and I told Jane this, and I feel this way. I've been swimming in the muck of data centers for years now, and I don't feel that we ever sort of go in any direction as a county beyond just bemoaning the fact that there's too much development of it. And there seems to be a feeling at this point that we need to at the very least take a pause on the development. My feeling is take simply taking a pause on the development is really not doing much at all. What I believe needs to be done is a deep dive and study of what the effects of data centers are, what they are doing, what's bad about them, what's good about them, what uh the future of data centers are going to bring to the county, because even if you take a pause on the development of them, the data centers themselves are going to stay here. And um, the nature of data centers, and this is why I think it's very important to do something now. The nature of data centers themselves are going to be changing because of artificial intelligence. The energy uses are going to get bigger, the effect on the environment is going to get stronger. The kinds of energy that they are going to need is going to change, all of which is documented. And um, and that the effects on the um community around them are is going to change, and that is part of what I need to document in the letter. I I understand that. But um, all of this is pretty well understood. But so even if there's a pause, what happens or a moratorium, even a moratorium in my mind says there'll be an end to the moratorium, and what happens at the end of that moratorium is what happens. And I honestly don't believe that we have a thorough understanding in Loudon County of what that means, not only to Loudon County, but to the rest of the country, because we are the center of data centers, and until we do have a thorough understanding of that, I don't think we can proceed with letting the development continue or making decisions about the energy needs, the substation needs, the generator needs, all of the things that go along with data centers and and I also believe that at some point some of those decisions are going to be taken out of our hands if we don't make the decisions. There are national rules about energy, all of these things that we I as a county, I don't think thoroughly understand. And I think we should have what I've been calling a blue-ribbon panel made up of multiple types of people with expertise beyond which I just think we can't have the kind of um study that has been the type the county usually has, which is we put together the best staff we have and the best. Yes. And hire 100,000 dollars. Hire a consultant and then be done with it. I think we have to go way beyond that. And that's what I've been trying to put into this. I know that um I've got I've got a couple of comments. I think the the goal in the intent is very strong. Um the data center committee, I know wait. This one's chair. Um the chair has asked them to come up with egregious examples to be able to be used. My word, I don't think that would be the our data center committee or our data center committee. I don't know what they've done on the thing. But I think that we I think that it's important as we say is we're as the heritage commission presents an excess exit. The heritage commission does not present the existential threat. The heritage commission is saying that the existential threat to Loudon's quality of life is by destroying its cultural heritage, reputational identity, and environment. I think it would be important for us to anchor those. You know, I know that you pulled the information right out of the heritage plan, but if there are any examples that the data center committee has found, I'd agree that that would help. And I think you know, they've been looking for direction and what's a research, and then that's what we need to give them. We can ask them to and then I would also I am I hear bells ring any time that moratorium is being said right now during a very contentious discussion at the board of supervisors. I would recommend we not use that word until county, the county attorneys has has weighed in on the legalities of grandfathering and moratoriums.