Why is the Board of County Supervisors so Committed to Paving Over Prince William County with Data Centers? For the Answer, Just Follow the Money!
It's become a sad truth in politics. Its all about the money.
What else can explain why the Board of County Supervisors is willing to turn its collective backs on the impacted families -- and there are tens of thousands of those families who are horribly impacted for every one landowner on Pageland Lane. And it's the real estate developers who are behind the cash flowing around Prince William County from mega-bucks multi-national data center operators?
The Piedmont Environmental Council lays out the massive impact on families from the land giveaway being considered by the Board of County Supervisors:
The Digital Gateway application proposes to designate nearly 2,100 acres in western Prince William County for up to 27.6 million square feet of data center space along Pageland Lane, converting the rural area beside Manassas National Battlefield to a complex of data centers larger than Data Center Alley near Dulles International Airport in Loudoun County. For scale, the average Walmart Supercenter is about 180,000 square feet. That means the equivalent of about 144 Walmart Supercenters will replace the farms and residential homes that are currently in the area. This is being proposed despite there being thousands of acres available in the County’s Data Center Opportunity Zone Overlay District and millions of square feet of data center development that has already been approved outside the Overlay District.
So the simple question is this: Why not use the currently vacant land in the designated Data Center Overlay District the Board of County Supervisors determined would have the minimal impact on families?
Money.
And lot's of it.
Ann Wheeler saw the river of cash first and invested heavily in data center stocks just after she was elected. She only divested some of the questionable stock transactions after been caught with her hand in the cookie jar. Her excuse: It wasn't that bad, but she acknowledged that it may have looked that bad.
Actually Chair Wheeler, it is just as bad as it looks.
Pete Candland abandoned his constituents -- after repeatedly pledging he would fight "tooth and nail" to protect the Rural Crescent -- when the Data Center crowd dangled $1 million plus an acre for his nearly 6 acres. There is a cynical saying about politicians that every one of them has a price. We all know what Pete Candland's price point is.
Pete Candland's excuse: I had to do it for my family.
OK Supervisor Candland, do it for your family and now do the honorable thing and resign from the position so the people who elected you in good faith actually have a voice and a vote on the Board.
And speaking of cynicism and politics, does anyone really believe there have not been commitments to fund next year's reelection campaigns for the Board of County Supervisors?
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InsideNova states "The proposed change would target 1,321 acres as technology/flex, 807 acres as parks and open space, 439.8 acres as environmental resource protection overlay and 9.6 acres as county historic registered site."
ReplyDeleteAccording to those numbers 1,256.4 acres of that would be open land, including public parks. You state that around 2,100 acres would be data centers, but it looks like almost 60% of that land would be open space. No?
https://www.insidenova.com/headlines/prince-william-county-planners-recommend-approval-of-pw-digital-gateway/article_3d310be0-2e1f-11ed-9ce4-675ed23bd4a8.html
No! Read the actual plan and look at the maps. This is an absurd contention and if reported that way by any in the press is completely irresponsible.
DeletePage 2 of the August Draft Plan states:
DeleteThe chart below summarizes the acreage involved in the initiated CPA to amend the Long-Range Land Use map.
LRLU Classification Acreage (±):
AE, Agricultural or Estate: Existing: ± 1,699.2; Proposed: ± 0
ER, Environmental Resource: Existing: ±439.8; Proposed: ± 0
T/F, Technology/Flex -T-3 Transect: Existing: ± 0; Proposed: ± 1,321.5
POS, Parks and Open Space: Existing: ± 0; Proposed: ± 807.9
CHRS, County Historic Registered Site: Existing: ± 0; Proposed: ±9.6
Total: Existing: ± 2,139; Proposed: ±2,139
Additionally, approximately 439.8 acres are recommended to be designated Environmental Resource Protection Overlay.
Good luck enjoying that "open space". The trees won't hide the massive monstrosity. You'll be able to take a nice hike along a pavement trail listening to the beautiful birds chirping. Oh wait -nothing will be heard because of the massive sound of the generators and HVAC running - ALL day and night long!! And the star gazing near the Battlefield. Massive light pollution. What an absolute joke of a sales job.
ReplyDeleteGotta be better than a relaxing walk on the trail that goes alongside Fairfax County Parkway. Take what you can get.
ReplyDeleteI will take none rather than some.
DeleteHa! How much are you getting out of this “deal”?
DeleteThey have to pay for the infrastructure somehow. https://www.pwcva.gov/department/planning-office/pathway-to-2040
ReplyDelete