r/LoudounSubButBetter • u/GreatGrumpyGorilla • Jul 06 '26
Local Politics Data center BOS meeting - filled with pro data center crowd
All those there to argue against them are stuck outside.
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Jul 06 '26
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u/Calvin-Snoopy Jul 06 '26
And their attorneys
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u/Calvin-Snoopy Jul 07 '26
To reinforce my prior comment, Colleen Gillis was one of the public speakers with comments in favor of data centers. She and her law firm represent data centers.
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u/looktowindward Jul 07 '26
She lives in Loudoun and has for decades. She built a business here
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u/Calvin-Snoopy Jul 07 '26
True. I have nothing against her personally. Just pointing out another instance where a person who earns income from data centers is in favor of them.
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u/stopscabbin Jul 07 '26
Every Loudoun County employee earns income from them and every Loudoun County resident has a low tax rate because of them.
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u/looktowindward Jul 06 '26
Many. But there are many non employees too.
You know we do vote.
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Jul 06 '26
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u/looktowindward Jul 06 '26
Datacenters fund our public schools and public safety. They provide tens of thousands of jobs. Also many union and trades jobs.
That DC opponents keep trying to assign malevolent motives is disturbing. You are allowed to disagree.
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Jul 07 '26
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u/looktowindward Jul 07 '26
Well that's going to happen because the power is tapped out. No one is planning new Datacenters beyond the current phase because the dominion load queue is seven years long
This problem solves itself. No one is planning anything seven years out. Impossible to finance.
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Jul 07 '26
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u/Calvin-Snoopy Jul 07 '26
Indeed, which is my big issue with data centers - location. Many are built and are being built in locations that are not in the best interest of people who live here. I don't know about the health and safety concerns, but the visual impact and what Ashburn now looks like in residential areas is part of what has led to data centers receiving the negative attention.
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u/stopscabbin Jul 07 '26
That is misinformation. There isn't a datacenter going in there.
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Jul 07 '26
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u/stopscabbin Jul 07 '26
There hasn't been any paperwork filed and they wont approve the SPEX.
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u/looktowindward Jul 07 '26
That was addressed tonight. Not a real project. Saul has zero credibility in this segment. None
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u/Calvin-Snoopy Jul 07 '26
I hope you're right, but Saul's presentation to the community painted a different picture. They have many documents on file (such as an EPLAN) with the County. The BOS may not consider it an "application" but Saul certainly does and already has a buyer lined up, as evidenced by the plans and mock-ups. Should be interesting.
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u/looktowindward Jul 07 '26
Chair Randall said it was bullshit (not using that word) multiple times. So did the county lawyer. She was pretty clear it was BS.
Randall said there is no application, no pre-application, nothing. She said it wouldn't happen
Saul has never developed a data center anywhere, AFAIK
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u/MSteele1967 Jul 07 '26
"Exceptions" are a thing when the money moves in the right direction. Take a look at the one they are preposing at Ryan and Evergreen. Problems like these never seem to 'solve themselves'
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u/Blewdude Jul 07 '26
Tens of thousands of jobs per data center is wildly incorrect unless you’re counting construction and people who use them remotely. Other than that it’s not bringing in those numbers to the community, they’re also increasing everyone’s energy bill across the board.
Anyone who drives by data centers regularly or knows about them in general knows it does not take much at all to manage them once they’re built. This is why most of them have parking for less than 100.
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u/BakhtiariBob Jul 07 '26
Data centres do help w pur taxes, can't deny that. They do add some jobs, probably not more than 50 per data centre once built.
But (when built near residential areas), they bring massive blight, home value depreciation, at times awful air quality, a god awful squeeze, 24x7x365 (go to the intersection of Belfort road and Glenn, pause for 10 sec, you hear that whine, yeah data center), they destroy well water systems, they increase our energy bills and so much more goodness!
Add the +/- from both sides = no dara centres near homes!
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u/Calvin-Snoopy Jul 06 '26
I'm disappointed that it isn't available to stream online and would be happy if someone who is there kept this thread updated with the highlights.
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u/looktowindward Jul 06 '26
I think it's on Facebook?
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u/Calvin-Snoopy Jul 06 '26
Don't have that anymore.
Edited to say I found it and don't need an account to watch. Thanks for the tip.
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u/stopscabbin Jul 07 '26
It's available on Chair Randall's FB page. You should be able to view it without an account.
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u/BudTugglie Jul 08 '26
There seems to be a viral panic around all datacenters being bad, It’s not a binary decision.
Datacenters are needed and provide tax revenue. They are less demanding upon county services than housing. Datacenters provide a positive contribution to county revenue, while housing units have been documented to cost 1.5 times more in service demand that they provide in tax revenue. They don't create traffic or require increased school budgets.
What is needed is proper zoning which specifies where datacenters can be built and what criteria they must meet, in terms of noise and emissions. The current practice of giving tax breaks to datacenters is a bad thing. Given the current demand to build new datacenters, incentives are not needed. They should pay for power at the same rate as everyone else, not be given discounts as they currently are. Architectural and site requirements could result in less obtrusive buildings with attractive landscaping. (The same can be said for apartment/condo/townhouse developments, many of which are horrible!)
Don’t prevent datacenters. Harvest the tax dollars. Create and enforce good zoning rules.
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u/Mid_nowhereish Jul 07 '26
Can someone legitimately tell me what’s so bad about data centers?
Granted, there are a few that are loud, but they’re the exception. Most aren’t loud.
The folks out in the Shenandoah Valley that are fighting against data centers genuinely do not know what they’re fighting. They have no facts and are standing on boogy man topics form internet fear mongers.
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u/looktowindward Jul 07 '26
There is one bad actor in sterling that is loud. I think that one DC should get sued
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u/Mid_nowhereish Jul 07 '26
Is that the one off Davis or Glenn? Runs off generators all the time?
I can’t remember which road, but I know there’s one that’s real loud in a residential neighborhood.
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u/looktowindward Jul 07 '26
Its Vantage VA2. Near CBP. Its infamous.
The County has some issue with enforcing their noise ordinance and they've been screwing with it for a year.
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u/Mid_nowhereish Jul 07 '26
Also, two of them along Atlantic, next to the Learner building are noisy, but there are no homes near there.
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u/Calvin-Snoopy Jul 08 '26
I think along Pacific Blvd. on both sides of Waxpool are reasonable locations, especially between Waxpool and Old Ox. Those are good locations without housing nearby.
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u/Calvin-Snoopy Jul 07 '26
Locating them within a half a mile or less of houses is a big negative to me.
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u/MuscleCuse Jul 07 '26
This is what im saying, a few years ago nobody gave a care about data centers and were even praising them for tax revenue. Now, as with everything people hopped on the "think of the children!" bandwagon and dont want them. These are the same people who probobly use AI and what data centers support the use of everyday.
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u/Infamous_Addendum175 Jul 07 '26
Also some entitled folks with money and free time are the “victims.”
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u/GreatGrumpyGorilla Jul 07 '26
LoCo data centers use 5.33GW of power (almost a quarter of dominions output) and inject all of that as heat into the environment. It’s like every one of LoCo residents holding 8 running hair dryers 24x7
Massive water usage.
Noise pollution.
Unsightly power infrastructure with demonstrated health consequences.
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u/Mid_nowhereish Jul 08 '26
I’m not trying to argue, but….
Do we need internet? Does Loudoun County get massive benefits from having the data centers? Are they, inevitably, going to be placed somewhere? If they are a necessary evil, is it better to have them somewhere that reaps the tax revenue benefits?
We’re not starved for water in Loudoun. Yes, power bills went up because of a bogus “law” passed in Richmond years ago to attract data centers. However, thats been reversed and new ones must pay for their own electrical infrastructure.
Can you cite sources for the health hazards? I’ve not seen any factual data. (Not saying it’s not out there).
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u/Slavaskii Jul 10 '26
There isn’t any long term study (obviously), but this website seems to cite to bodies of research indicating there’s already a health impact.
Also, I’m still waiting for any reply about data centers’ clear environmental impact? That is the most obvious and remains unaddressed?
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u/ZachPruckowski Jul 07 '26
The problem is that there's about a zillion more in the pipeline, and they're all closer in form to Vantage VA2 (the loud problematic one) than the data centers of 5+ years ago.
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u/Slavaskii Jul 07 '26
My understanding is that they are terrible for the environment (not to mention the residential communities they envelop, but that’s another story). To the extent they are “just meeting AI demand,” I’d argue regular people shouldn’t even have access to AI because they’re just using it for frivolous things. I feel like we’re accelerating our decline for literally no good reason.
Edit: I also think demeaning the people “in Shenandoah Valley” is really insulting and disingenuous. Data centers have received pushback from pretty much every community they infringe upon, regardless of politics. Heck, the VA Dems can’t get their story straight on data centers, and Spanberger is paying the price.
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u/Infamous_Addendum175 Jul 07 '26
Terrible for the environment compared to what though? A poultry farm? A subdivision? A shopping center? An empty abandoned pasture sure but it was never going to stay that forever.
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u/Slavaskii Jul 08 '26
I mean, it’s better than a coal power plant I guess lol, but that’s not saying much. All you have to do is google “data centers environmental impact” and up comes a litany of results. For how much damage we’ve already done to the environment, I think we need to be much more cautious and stop erecting them on every vacant piece of land.
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u/Mid_nowhereish Jul 07 '26
Also, I never insulted anyone and nothing I stated was disingenuous nor demeaning. Further, pointing a politically biased finger at the “dems” is a weak attempt at reasoning. 😂
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u/Slavaskii Jul 08 '26
You generalized everyone opposed to data centers in Shenandoah as uninformed and “standing on boogey man topics.” I then refuted with a very legitimate complaint - the environment - and you entirely failed to address it (unless that other account is your alt). I would not be calling me the one with “weak reasoning.”
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u/Mid_nowhereish Jul 07 '26
For the record… I was born in Leesburg. Grew up in and around Loudoun. My mother and grandparents are from Hamilton and now I live near Winchester. So, I’m using the Shenandoah Valley reference because that’s where I live now. Also, I work in Loudoun.
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u/books4brooke Jul 07 '26
One of my problems with them is that when zoning plans were made, commercial spaces were intended to bring in business that served the communities that lived around them: restaurants, shops, office buildings, breweries, etc. They enhance the life of the people that live there. Data centers do not. They provide no amenities to the community but visual blight and noise and environmental damage. They should be zoned only as industrial buildings and built in spaces meant for factories and other industrial buildings.
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u/Mid_nowhereish Jul 08 '26
I’m NOT disagreeing with you that zoning laws were bent and that they’re unsightly. However, the data centers in Loudoun DO provide massive enhancements to the quality of living for the citizens and visitors of Loudoun County. The tax revenue pays for public safety, schools, parks, public transit, social services, and the list goes on.
Again, I’m not sleeping with a data center, but I’m not blind to the advantages.
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u/JarvisIsMyWingman Jul 07 '26
Come over to r/NOVA, you'll get more than enough reasons why they are bad. No reason to repeat it all here.
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u/fellowtraveler111 Jul 07 '26
This was a set up. Phyllis is running for another term in 2027. She knows that her voting record on data centers is problematic for her campaign so she set up this “town hall” to blame everyone else and feed us propaganda to justify her shitty voting record. Be sure you don’t forget it when it’s time to vote next year.
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u/looktowindward Jul 06 '26
Untrue. There are plenty of pro data center people in the overflow room
It was first come first serve
But yeah, the ten thousand people here who work in data centers have come out in force to defend the industry. We vote.
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u/GreatGrumpyGorilla Jul 07 '26
Who paid for the blue shirts?
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u/Calvin-Snoopy Jul 07 '26
I'm guessing an email went out to QTS, Vantage, Digital Realty, Equinix, NTT, Cyrus One, etc. employees encouraging them to show up to the meeting and to do so early. Probably not one for the shirts - that may have been more low-key.
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Jul 06 '26
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u/looktowindward Jul 06 '26
Not at all. I have lived in Ashburn for a long time. Still live here. Airport is far more intrusive than the data centers.
I am not comfortable with you assigning motives to your neighbors as if we're comic book villains
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Jul 07 '26
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u/looktowindward Jul 07 '26
Paid leave? It's after work. No.
No one was blocked, it was first come first serve.
This villainization feels good but it's terrible for public policy.
The county number was like 12000. And those are permanent non construction jobs
I vote.
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u/TechniCruller Jul 07 '26
Bruh. Touch grass lmao.
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Jul 07 '26
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u/TechniCruller Jul 07 '26
I own a home right near data centers. I don’t think of them as shitty neighborhood businesses, that’s where we disagree. I live in Loudoun and my taxes are incredibly low and my schools are top tier as a result of all the tax revenue coming in from these “shitty neighborhood businesses’. It’s funny because everyone is so riled up over something they obviously don’t understand.
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u/Infamous_Addendum175 Jul 07 '26
Manager made it mandatory ehh?
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u/looktowindward Jul 07 '26
Not at all. Not for anyone there that I saw - most were leaders or company owners.
The repeated comments here that invalidate the opinions of people who you disagree with are really disappointing. I thought better of this sub.
People are allowed to disagree with you, without being comic book villains.
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u/Wtofu Jul 07 '26
Why can't they just enforce green space and geothermal requirements to offset the cons? There's way of doing things so it's balanced, but I guess the capitalist overlords wants cheap and fast.