Data centers currently are allowed in the M-1 district by right, which means an application would not have to go through the public hearing process before the Amherst County Planning Commission and the board of supervisors. They are not allowed in any other zoning district, by right or via permit, and M-1 includes a 500-plus-acre area in Madison Heights known as the Dillard tract that is owned by the Economic Development Authority (EDA) of Amherst County.
A data center, or any other use, has not been announced for that location but groups of residents, most from the Kings Road area of Madison Heights near the site, on two occasions in the past weeks brought forward concerns about that measure potentially being in the works.
Supervisor David Pugh said the residents, including nearly two dozen who spoke at Tuesday’s meeting, have valid concerns.
“The biggest concerns up front would be water usage and electricity usage. How do we supply millions of gallons worth of water to cool this infrastructure?” Pugh said. “From day one, I've had concerns with them, and certainly there is a rush to put them up everywhere in the United States as quickly as they can put them up.”
In a statement issued Tuesday, the EDA said it continues to market properties in the Amelon Commerce Center and the Dillard site and remains engaged with businesses across a wide spectrum of industries.
“We look forward to finding businesses that align with the Board of Supervisors’ and the County’s long-term vision for economic growth and development,” the statement from Lori Saunders, the EDA’s executive director, said. “Our focus remains on attracting businesses that create quality jobs, expand the county’s tax base, and strengthen Amherst County’s economy, helping to reduce the tax burden on residents over time.”
Samantha Salvi, who lives on Kings Road, said that area is beautiful and welcoming, and she expressed concerns a data center would damage the environment, pollute and take up “absurd, unsustainable” amounts of water and electricity.
“We don’t deserve to have our land ruined,” Salvi said. “If there’s the slimmest chance of a data center being built there, people have a right to know … We’re the ones most affected. We deserve a say.”
Mark May, a retired teacher and coach who worked for decades for the county’s school system, said he and his wife searched for 10 years to find their 89 acres in the 1980s. His property is 150 feet from the Dillard tract, and he said he is concerned with any entity coming in to pollute the land, water and air.
May said he trusts county officials will ensure the people are protected, and change will not come that negatively affects the residents’ quality of life.
Joseph Garrett, a county resident, said local officials are often the last line of defense for data centers and can keep corporate interests from going unchecked. The board is on the cusp of irreversible decisions that will last generations and if corporations backing data centers push back on the by right going away, it is because it cuts into their profits.
“They do not want your involvement, but we do,” Garrett told the board, adding of the additional zoning scrutiny a special use process brings: “We are trusting you to carry that weight.”
James Curtis, who lives on Kings Road, said cattle farming has been going on for more than a century on his land and he has no intent to sell. The county needs jobs, but a data center is not the right way to go, he said.
Amherst resident Barbara Pryor said humanity is at a major turning point and the board must protect the county from anything that harms its water, air and soil. “Please think clearly… vote no to data centers,” Pryor said.
Kyle Murphy, a county resident, said his 24 acres on Harris Creek feels like an oasis from the increasing activity on the U.S. 29 Business corridor. He said he is not against industry, but the special use permit zoning is needed for protection, more negotiations on the county’s part for the best interests of the community, and gives more transparency.
One speaker said she has asthma and migraines, and the last thing she wants is a data center’s effects amplifying that. Another resident, in a heated voice, told supervisors to put a data center in their own backyards.
Other residents said a data center does not belong in the county, they don’t want it and without a special use permit protocol, they would have no say if a data center proposal came along.
Jones Stanley, a former county school board member and Monroe area resident, said in comments against the artificial intelligence aspects of data centers that AI is not a bad thing when needed in everyday and emergency situations.
“We deal with it every day … it's coming,” Stanley said. “Whether we, United States, gets it or whether Russia gets it, or whether China gets it, it's coming. It's going to happen, I guarantee it.”
“You’re not going to change our mind,” one person in the crowd said in response.
Pugh said data centers cause disruptions for people who live near them, which is why he is in absolute support of a special use permit process.
“We have special exceptions for solar panels in certain districts of the county. At least this way we would allow our community to voice their concerns and allow us to have control over what goes in and what does not,” Pugh said. “And 20 years from now, 10 years from now, it may be obsolete. There may be something else that comes along.”
Pugh said he has seen “massive, humongous” data centers and said the board does have to weigh the tremendous tax benefit for localities.
“It provides a windfall of taxes, and whether or not that takes any pressure off your real estate [tax rate], that would really be up to the board to decide to rein in their spending and put some of that money away, but I've yet to see a governmental board that gets additional revenue and decides to cut taxes,” Pugh said.
Tom Martin, the board’s chair, said the EDA’s job is marketing the property for economic development.
“Now is marketing it for a data center the best thing to do?” Martin asked. “That’s fairly debatable.”
At some point, the land that is zoned for manufacturing/industrial use will develop in a way that will bring change, he said.
“Is it going to develop as a data center? I don't know,” Martin said. “It definitely won't without a lot of public input, is what I'm hearing today … It's not going to remain that way forever.”
He said data centers that often take up hundreds of thousands of square feet and use a substantial amount of water resources pose a lot of “unknowns that I want to know,” which is why he supports a special use permit process.
His motion directs the planning commission to act on the measure to make data centers a special use permit in the M-1 zone by August. The commission, at its most recent meeting, discussed taking up an ordinance on data center regulations and now has the board’s direction to do so.
“I'm hoping that the planning commission will do this in a very fast and meticulous way, so we can get this through this board quicker rather than later,” Pugh said.
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