After a grueling public hearing that stretched into the next morning, the Stafford Planning Commission voted 4-3 in the wee hours of August 27, 2026 to recommend approval of the Accokeek Center data center project.
The Commission voted to recommend rezoning the 120 acres from A-1, A-2, B-3 to M-2 Heavy Industrial, and also to approve the conditional use permit for an electric substation.
The original application was pulled from the Planning Commission agenda about 1 1/2 hours before a hearing scheduled on April 22 when it was obvious that it fell way short of the standards, with the public opposition overwhelming, and the Planning and Zoning Staff recommending denial.
Though the applicant has made improvements to the proposal, including taking out one of the buildings and relocating the controversial substation, many inconsistencies and unanswered questions still remained.
Where to start?
The project did not align with the Comp Plan, which envisions the area as Mixed Use/Residential/Commercial, not Heavy Industrial. Even the county Planning and Zoning staff admitted as much, in addition to the other inconsistencies. Even though the staff recommended approval of the project despite all that in an astonishing abdication of responsibility.
The standards regarding setbacks, which the Commission had worked so hard on in special work sessions all last year with the input from the public were also ignored, with the applicant asking reductions from the 750 foot setback, to 550 feet from residences in some cases and 399 feet in another.
There was no indication of where the electric transmission line would run to bring 122 MW of power to the substation. Dominion and the State Corporation Commission have changed it’s application request queue to batches, which now entails placement of the line after the project has been approved and the site plan finalized. The P & Z staff even admitted it was placing “The cart before the horse”.
At a Data Center Forum last Thursday at the library in Frredericksburg, Elena Schlossberg, Director of the Coalition to Protect Prince William County, stated that Dominion has “lost control” of the data center industry. They do not have the power on the grid to support all the electric needs, which are driven by data center growth, and moreover, as was pointed out in an article by Eric Bonds and Ranjit Singh on Ranjit’s Substack No Lines in Nature here, are approximately 29 Gigawatts short of what is even in the application queue, including the 13 applications currently pending in Stafford County. This is a very grave problem (pun intended) right now in our Commonwealth.
Perhaps most disturbing was ignoring the potential damage to Accokeek Creek itself. It’s ironic that the project is named for the very critical waterway it will now further compromise. This is disheartening in light of the recent sewage spill into the Accokeek, and the recent DEQ report on the strain on the aquifers, and the potential damage the electric transmission line would cause to Accokeek Creek’s Critical Resource Protection Area (RPA).
As Planning Commission Chair Kristen Barnes pointed out, it “doesn’t take a rocket scientist” to figure out that wherever the proposed electric line will run. It will go right alongside to the large subdivision, Big Spring, across Rt. 1 and then cut across part of the Accokeek Creek Resource Protection Area (RPA), causing tree and vegetation removal, herbicide application, soil disruption, erosion, silt and sediment runoff and cause downstream impacts that will affect the health of the creek and ultimately Crow’s Nest Nature Preserve, the crown jewel of Stafford County.
Falmouth Supervisor Marcus Oats, after lobbing softball questions and lavishing praise on the project’s attorney Charlie Payne, made the motion to approve. It was seconded by Griffis-Widewater Supervisor Carlos Bratton, who, amazingly is closing on a home in the very Big Spring subdivision that will be adversely affected by the project and it’s transmission line. Yet he still voted yes. Neil Hamblin from Garrisonville, a new member in his very first appearance on the Commission, also voted yes (not a good portent of things to come). They were joined by Hartwood Supervisor Billy Shelton.
Voting no were Chair Kristen Barnes, the Rock Hill representative, Vice-Chair Kelsey Caudill from George Washington, and Aquia member Maureen Siegmund.
To be fair, the three member of the Commission who voted no did their due diligence and duty to the county and asked the hard questions of the staff and applicant, and with so many questions unanswered, refused to support it. Barnes was masterful in her handling of the meeting.
Public opposition was again nearly unanimous. Of the several dozen speakers that voiced their opinion against the project, I counted just three in favor. One was a real estate agent from Caroline County. Another was a lady who wanted to sell their nearby property so her grandmother could retire.
It’s kind of like the feeling you must get while living in an autocratic country. The public votes overwhelming for something, yet the opposition is installed anyway.
What is the point of having a Comp Plan, having new standard revisions, and having Critical Resource Protection Areas if you do not adhere to them?
When the promise of tax revenue supersedes the permanent destruction of the land, trees, soil, water, and air, you have truly lost your way.
The application now goes to the Board of Supervisors for a final decision.
I’m not holding my breath.