Chesapeake approves 8-month pause on data center applications

Chesapeake City Council unanimously voted Tuesday night to pause consideration of data center applications for up to eight months, or until the city adopts regulations governing data centers, whichever comes first.

City councilors, who rejected a proposed 350,000-square-foot data center in June 2025, asked staff and planning commissioners in January to draft zoning ordinance amendments so data centers would be considered on a case-by-case basis.

This week’s resolution buys city officials more time to develop citywide rules governing where and how data centers can be built before councilors consider additional applications.

City officials have been exploring ways to keep data centers in check since last summer, when council rejected a rezoning request for a proposed 350,000-square-foot data center near the Etheridge Lakes neighborhood, which if approved would have become the city’s first data center.

While City Council can approve or deny rezoning requests, data centers are currently permitted by right in areas zoned for industrial, business, office and institutional uses, meaning many projects do not require council approval.

On July 8, the Chesapeake Planning Commission recommended amending the city’s 2045 Comprehensive Plan to establish policies governing data center development.

Tuesday’s resolution notes that the council does not have “the necessary framework” to make informed decisions on land use applications involving data centers. The eight-month pause will give the city time to complete its policy and ensure that future proposals are reviewed under consistent standards.

Before the city adopts a broader data center policy, it also plans in August to consider an ordinance that would eliminate by-right uses of data centers. Attorney Catherine Lindley described the August ordinance as “phase one” of the county’s attempts to regulate the growing industry, with phase two being the broader regulations. The August ordinance would “close the by-right loophole” and require all applicants to seek a conditional use permit for a data center.

“I think this is what will allow us to pump the brakes, take a breath, get more public input,” said Council member Amanda Newlins. “It will, in my opinion, protect the city from any by-right data centers coming without any kind of city input or public input. It will protect us from data centers as a whole for the next eight months or until a policy is implemented, whichever is sooner.”

Chesapeake City Manager Christopher Price noted the city will have various community meetings to solicit input on what the city should consider as it develops its data center policy.

City resident Jeff Staples, speaking on behalf of the Chesapeake Environmental Improvement Council, expressed concerns about the possibility of data centers being built in the city due to the loss of farmland and greenspace and potential negative effects on the environment, public health, water usage and quality of life. He recommended the council not allow them in the city.

Chesapeake resident Mike Hoffman thanked the council for the resolution and “taking additional time.”

“Data centers represent one of the most significant land use decisions Chesapeake has faced in many years, and I appreciate the council recognizing that this decision deserves careful consideration,” he said. “It’s simply too important not to get it right.”

Hoffman said before the city decides how to regulate these data centers, it first must answer the fundamental questions: “Should large-scale data centers become part of Chesapeake’s long-term vision for the community?”

Recently, data centers and their potential environmental cost, especially as larger facilities are needed to handle artificial intelligence-fueled internet usage increases, have caused significant controversy among neighbors of proposed projects, even in areas without major data center development like Chesapeake.

According to Chesapeake Planning Director Jimmy McNamara, the city has been researching the business sector and speaking to officials in Prince William and Loudoun counties. Loudoun is home to the world’s largest concentration of data centers in its Data Center Alley corridor, but the county put the brakes on by-right zoning in 2025.