Data Center victory in Manassas

[JPChurch]

The final ruling against the proposed data storage center along Lee Hwy (29-211) and Pageland Lane was announced a few days ago. The homeowners won out and the Prince William county's council decision in favor was voided. What a tremendous victory for battlefield preservation.

Now I wonder what will happen to all that land........

 

[13 IL Cav & 64 GA Inf]

The final ruling against the proposed data storage center along Lee Hwy (29-211) and Pageland Lane was announced a few days ago. The homeowners won out and the Prince William county's council decision in favor was voided. What a tremendous victory for battlefield preservation.

Now I wonder what will happen to all that land........

Hopefully the American Battlefield Trust will get at least some of the land.

 

[Belfoured]

The final ruling against the proposed data storage center along Lee Hwy (29-211) and Pageland Lane was announced a few days ago. The homeowners won out and the Prince William county's council decision in favor was voided. What a tremendous victory for battlefield preservation.

Now I wonder what will happen to all that land........

The decision is linked in this thread for anybody who wants to read it. The first issue is whether the proponents of this rezoning decide to appeal.

Court Voids Prince William County Rezoning for Data Centers | Historic Preservation Efforts

Looks like a victory in the trial court. https://emergingcivilwar.com/2025/08/08/ecw-news-judges-halts-data-center-project-near-manasass-battlefield/

civilwartalk.com

 

[JeffBrooks]

Now I wonder what will happen to all that land........

Don't declare victory too early. A classic tactic of these kinds of developers when they lose in court is simply to file an appeal, move so slowly that public interest in the issue fades and people forget about it, then ram things through and start the project anyway. I've seen it happen a number of times.

 

[James Brenner]

Don't declare victory too early. A classic tactic of these kinds of developers when they lose in court is simply to file an appeal, move so slowly that public interest in the issue fades and people forget about it, then ram things through and start the project anyway. I've seen it happen a number of times.

That is very true. I take some consolation in the fact that the people of that area have a pretty good success rate opposing developers: Disney and Manassas, high tension towers at The Plains, and development in the valley (I forget the name) between US 50 and I-66.

 

[Belfoured]

Don't declare victory too early. A classic tactic of these kinds of developers when they lose in court is simply to file an appeal, move so slowly that public interest in the issue fades and people forget about it, then ram things through and start the project anyway. I've seen it happen a number of times.

Those are good points. Regarding an appeal, the caveat is that I do a lot of appellate work but never in the Virginia State courts or applying Virginia zoning law so anything I say is wide open for rejection. The legal analysis in the decision seems careful and thorough. The fact issues regarding publication and what the newspaper did and when seem to have been undisputed. The ruling that three plaintiffs had not waived their challenge is based on highly specific credibility rulings by the trial judge. In most jurisdictions those are a basis for reversal only in extreme cases. The time required to decide an appeal is, as you suggest, a factor. I have no idea what a customary timeline is in Virginia but appeals often take a year and more to decide.

IIRC, the rezoning decision was issued by a lame duck board on its way out the door. If the appeal fails and the developers try again, I suspect there will still be opposition but who knows what will happen.

All that said, for now it ain't happening. Good.

 

[Rusk County Avengers]

Now I wonder what will happen to all that land........

Subdivision?

 

[Jamieva]

Those are good points. Regarding an appeal, the caveat is that I do a lot of appellate work but never in the Virginia State courts or applying Virginia zoning law so anything I say is wide open for rejection. The legal analysis in the decision seems careful and thorough. The fact issues regarding publication and what the newspaper did and when seem to have been undisputed. The ruling that three plaintiffs had not waived their challenge is based on highly specific credibility rulings by the trial judge. In most jurisdictions those are a basis for reversal only in extreme cases. The time required to decide an appeal is, as you suggest, a factor. I have no idea what a customary timeline is in Virginia but appeals often take a year and more to decide.

IIRC, the rezoning decision was issued by a lame duck board on its way out the door. If the appeal fails and the developers try again, I suspect there will still be opposition but who knows what will happen.

All that said, for now it ain't happening. Good.

Correct the board that approved it were all leaving

 

[Jamieva]

Virginia Court of Appeals Deals Blow to Data Center Complex Threatening Manassas Battlefield

(Arlington, Va.) — The Virginia Court of Appeals has rejected the rezonings approving the world’s largest data center complex alongside Manassas...

www.battlefields.org

Trust won the appeal

 

[Belfoured]

Virginia Court of Appeals Deals Blow to Data Center Complex Threatening Manassas Battlefield

(Arlington, Va.) — The Virginia Court of Appeals has rejected the rezonings approving the world’s largest data center complex alongside Manassas...

www.battlefields.org

Trust won the appeal

Good. Lame ducks should not be deciding important matters like this. More and more concerns about the local impacts of these operations are coming to light - water, rates, etc etc. The local pols jumping on the "pot of gold" are often blind to the long-term issues and offsets.

 

[James Brenner]

Good. Lame ducks should not be deciding important matters like this. More and more concerns about the local impacts of these operations are coming to light - water, rates, etc etc. The local pols jumping on the "pot of gold" are often blind to the long-term issues and offsets.

Thermal pollution surrounding the data centers has now become an issue.

 

[gary]

All to spy on us too. Good riddance.

 

[Peace Society]

There's talk of putting these things in orbit and using solar power to run them.
Vastly preferable to using up all of Earth's energy sources to run them.

 

[Jamieva]

The developer appealed at the last second. So it's not over yet but I confident the trust will win this like the previous rulings.

 

[gary]

I hope it's shot down again.

 

[milhistbuff1]

The developer appealed at the last second. So it's not over yet but I confident the trust will win this like the previous rulings.

May it be. Last thing we need on hallowed ground…

 

[bayonet]

Educate me on these Data Centers, I'm starting to hear about them and fights against them. What good are they? Just saw one used massive water & power causing the surrounding neighborhoods to have low water pressure. Do they not add to employment in the area which would be a good thing?

 

[Library Lady]

Educate me on these Data Centers, I'm starting to hear about them and fights against them. What good are they? Just saw one used massive water & power causing the surrounding neighborhoods to have low water pressure. Do they not add to employment in the area which would be a good thing?

This might give you an idea. Basically, there's way more temporary jobs building one than permanent jobs running one.

https://www.npr.org/2025/04/10/nx-s1-5355017/data-centers-bring-money-to-small-towns-but-do-they-also-bring-jobs

 

[JeffBrooks]

Educate me on these Data Centers, I'm starting to hear about them and fights against them. What good are they? Just saw one used massive water & power causing the surrounding neighborhoods to have low water pressure. Do they not add to employment in the area which would be a good thing?

Data centers employ relatively small numbers of people, since they are so highly automated.

 

[milhistbuff1]

Educate me on these Data Centers, I'm starting to hear about them and fights against them. What good are they? Just saw one used massive water & power causing the surrounding neighborhoods to have low water pressure. Do they not add to employment in the area which would be a good thing?

Data centers employ relatively small numbers of people, since they are so highly automated.

I concur with Jeff, nowhere near enough employment to make the costs/tradeoffs worth it.

To Bayonet's post

In a nutshell, the datacenters are the blood and guts of AI.

These centers utilize rapidly changing technology with high risk of obsolescence. This begs the question whether they should be built in the first place or postponed until more efficient chips/processors can meet demand with smaller footprint/resource usage.

We're talking trillions of dollars in potentially wasted investment between all aspects over the next several years. I'd despise seeing natural/historic sites/battlefield land lost nationwide for infrastructure that risks being outdated before construction is done.

Anthropic's CFO is wrestling with this and related problems per this weekend's WSJ Exchange section. Defer investment pending efficient tech, build to scale/renovate, or put core focus on highest capacity commercially feasible asap. I'm sure the other major players are struggling with it too.

The whole issue is a societal gordian knot. Most fundamental personally and many here i'd wager, is that historic preservation has a seat at the table. Can't save everything, but steering them and other challengers e.g A'zon distribution away from more precious/better preserved sites should be part of the conversation.