Hanover supervisors reject 430-acre data center campus

After months of debate and strong public opposition, the Hanover County Board of Supervisors voted 4-3 Wednesday to reject a proposed 430-acre data center campus.

Denver-based data center developer Tract had sought approval for a conditional-use permit and rezoning for the Mountain Road Technology Park, a multi-building data center development planned along Mountain Road (U.S. Route 33) near the Henrico County line and the Chickahominy River.

Application documents showed that about 129 acres would’ve been reserved for data center building areas spread across five development zones. Buildings could reach up to 62 feet in height, and the project was expected to use an average of 600,000 gallons of water per day, with peak demand reaching 2 million gallons daily. The proposal was intended to be developed in phases through at least 2034, though Dominion Energy anticipated the first electrical service to be delivered in late 2029.

The project was projected to bring the county $901 million in revenue from property taxes between 2025 and 2044, with increased revenue beginning in 2030 and $2.068 billion in revenue from sales and use tax.

In public hearings at both the planning commission level and during Wednesday’s board meeting, the proposal drew sharp criticism from numerous residents who raised concerns about the project’s water usage, potential air pollution, noise, traffic impacts, environmental impacts, their home values declining and the speculative nature of the development with an unknown end user. While a majority of the feedback was negative, some residents voiced support, saying the project would create job opportunities, diversify the economy, increase tax revenue and be a preferred use over additional residential housing.

Supervisor Michael Herzberg voiced support for approval, believing it is consistent with land use plans, that the public is increasingly reliant on online platforms that require data centers and that the tax revenue could be vital for public safety and school projects and allow the county to lower its property tax.

“I don’t believe that I am voting on a budget item tonight,” Herzberg said. “I am not voting on tax revenue tonight. As I said earlier, this is a land use decision. But I am a person who has to consider the budget every year, and I do believe that there is significant revenue to be gained from this project that will benefit our citizens.”

While Supervisor Danielle Floyd said she could appreciate the tax revenue, she had concerns about water usage and the project’s proximity to residential homes. Supervisor  Faye Prichard acknowledged the citizens who spoke against the project for roughly two hours during Wednesday’s public hearing.

“I want to say that if every citizen in Hanover County told me to do something that I truly believed was wrong, I like to think I would follow my conscience and do what I truly thought was right,” Prichard said. “But the reality is I don’t think this many citizens coming forward to say this is really something we don’t want is something I have the ability to ignore, because I work for you.”

Still, Prichard had her own reservations about the project and expressed concerns about brownouts or county residents having their energy bills go up. She also did not want the county to become increasingly reliant on data centers for revenue.

“I think I am concerned about any county having too much of their budget percentage invested in one pot, when eventually data centers become obsolete — and they will, because everything does — counties like … Loudoun, who have one-third of their budgets in data, are going to be left struggling,” she said.

Ultimately, Floyd, Prichard, Chairman Sean Davis and Supervisor Jeff Stoneman voted to deny the applications on Wednesday, while Herzberg and Supervisors Sue Dibble and Ryan Hudson voted to approve them.

Tract did not immediately return a request for comment about the denial.