Chesterfield presents data center development plans to the public

One of the community meetings was held at Midlothian High School Monday to discuss the proposed data center development at the Watkins Centre property near the State Route 288 and Midlothian Turnpike junction.

The EDA filed the Watkins Centre South zoning application on Feb. 7. The initial plan called for a 348-acre property; since then, the proposal has increased the total to approximately 448 acres.

Jake Elder, deputy director of Chesterfield’s economic development department, said the county is working with a confidential data center prospect who is looking into investing significant capital in Chesterfield. The EDA filings came about as a response to that confidential operator.

“Attracting business capital investment is exactly why we’re here,” Elder said. “We work with companies from not just around the region, not just from around the state, but from around the world to try and showcase Chesterfield.”

Elder said the direct tax revenue from economic development projects such as Meadowville Technology Park has allowed the county to drop the real estate tax rate to its current standing of 90 cents per $100 of assessed value.

Chesterfield, which has several existing data centers, is already part of a fiber network that connects to the cables in Virginia Beach. The Watkins Centre lines would be interconnected with that system.

In 2006, a zoning case was approved for a master plan development that included Westchester Commons, which opened in 2009 and is near the Watkins Centre site.

Nearly 200 acres of the proposed Watkins Centre property are already zoned for data center use from the 2006 case, according to the county.

Overall, the Watkins Centre plan only permits the property to be used for data center development and accessory uses.

Some of the proffer conditions outlined included noise limits of 65 decibels between 8 p.m. and 6 a.m. — just above typical speaking levels — and 75 decibels between 6 a.m. and 8 p.m. A maximum height of 150 feet is also in place.

At the meeting, several community members offered questions and concerns regarding costs, environmental impact and the approval process.

Bob Olsen, a Chesterfield resident who has worked in engineering, construction and floodwall work, said the public should know the data center’s size, kilowatt usage, type of cooling used and other details before the case moves forward.

“Don’t have the EDA come and say ‘trust us,’” Olsen said. “All those questions before we go any further in the process, all those need to be known so the citizens know exactly what you’re dealing with.”

Beth Zizzamia, a Chesterfield resident and a geographic information system operations manager at the University of Richmond, brought up concerns about Chesterfield potentially going the path of Northern Virginia, which has the largest concentration of data centers in the world.

Elder mentioned that the county’s ongoing zoning modernization project is taking into consideration where data centers should and shouldn’t be located.

“Chesterfield is not looking to be similar to Loudoun or Prince William County,” Elder said.

With multiple residents bringing up concerns about rising costs for taxpayers, officials at the meeting said the developer will be responsible for the cost of improvements such as water and wastewater upgrades, road infrastructure and energy demands.

After the review process is completed, the case will go before the Chesterfield planning commission. Then it will move to the Chesterfield Board of Supervisors for final approval.

“If I don’t like what I’m seeing or I don’t feel comfortable with it, I’m going to send it back to the planning commission,” Mark Miller, the county’s Midlothian district supervisor, said. “But when a decision gets made and I feel like we’re there where we need to be, I will do it from a place of thoughtfulness.”

Along with the Watkins Centre filing, the county submitted a second data center zoning case for the Upper Magnolia Green West property. Additionally, a zoning amendment to preserve the Upper Magnolia Green East property was submitted.

A public meeting for the Upper Magnolia cases will be held Thursday from 6:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. at Moseley Elementary School (7100 Magnolia Green Parkway). The meeting was rescheduled from last week due to the winter storm.