The next skirmish

 

Ad hominem—look it up—attacks in comment will not be published. The anonymous commenter who called GOMM a coward for not posting their ugly remarks might want to check the definition of irony.

So tired of  the arrogant condescension of people who bought into developer fables that a townhouse in a business park is rural. 

On July 23, we got some details about the pre-application filed by Tract for the Tuckahoe Technology Park (TTP) on approximately 871 acres east of Hockett Road, north of Rt. 6 and west of Mosaic, the 55+ residential enclave in west Creek, at a community meeting.  This is the first step in the process to secure a conditional use permit (CUP) to build a data center campus there.

Go to https://www.tuckahoetechparkinfo.com/ for details.

It seemed like most of Mosaic and Readers Branch, attired in cute red tee shirts, turned out for the event. At a rally they contended that the county should grow tomatoes not data centers. This illustrates profound ignorance about Goochland—crops here include soybeans, corn, and wheat. There is a large dairy farm in Manakin Sabot. Cattle are raised and a meat processing plant is under construction. These keep much of the county rural, but are taxed at land use rates, a per acre amount determined at the state level; to help them stay in business so they’re not tempted to sell their land to developers.

The initiative to increase the county’s commercial to residential tax ratio from its current roughly 82/18 to 70/30 has been a goal of the supervisors for some time to pay for needed services and infrastructure without increasing tax rates. Until the more than 1,000 vacant, zoned residential lots are built out and the tax ratio is much closer to 70/30, the county needs to “pause” all residential rezoning applications. One more time for the refugees from Long Island, houses consume more in local government services than they generate in real estate taxes.

Goochland has enormous capital needs, something that data center opponents ignore or do not care about.

The July 23 session provided some, but not enough, clarity on the proposal. At least one more community meeting, ideally to share revisions made in response to community input, is needed before a formal CUP application is filed. This is how the process works. There were at least three community meetings for the Highfield subdivision over a period of several years before a final vote was taken.

Kara Bowyer, director of entitlements for Tract, said that data centers built in TTP will be air cooled, a requirement that will be part of the CUP language, making it law. She also estimated that the amount of water used during construction and ongoing operations, for things like restrooms, would be roughly the equivalent of 36 homes, using a 333 gallon per day average. All water servicing TTP will be municipally supplied by the Tuckahoe Creek Service District, which is surface water drawn from the James River. It will have no impact on groundwater. So, opponents can stop posting photos of icky water coming out of faucets on social media.

Speaking of groundwater, how is it affected by the herbicides, fungicides, insecticides, and other “cides” that maintain the sodded lawns and landscaping in the enclaves for the affluent that leach into the soil? Why is no one asking that question?

Bowyer also said that there will be no natural gas power generation on the site, which is curious given that the site is bisected by a natural gas line.

Tract, according to the presentation, is in the business of building pad ready sites for data centers. This was likened to shopping center developers who rezone land, build parking lots, road access, and structures for future tenants. The TTP, as presented in the pre app, is a “conceptual master plan” that applied the requirements of the TOD/TZ to the subject parcels, probably using software. That explains the vagueness of the “conceptual bubble plan”. The exhibits for TTP are “conceptual” in nature, which is why there are no “elevations” to illustrate future buildings or where they will be placed. Bowyer said that the floor area ratio (FAR) of buildings to land area will be low, estimated at about ten percent of the 871 acres.  Even estimates for building locations would be helpful.

 Bowyers explained that vertical construction will not start until a source of adequate power to the site is identified and secured, which will take at least three years.  The power line extension recently approved to service the Eli Lilly facility in West Creek, is the “best guess” for the most likely connection, said Bowyer. Three power substations, each with a 300-mw capacity, would be needed to run the data centers. Potential locations for these are illustrated.

Tract will clear the site, build road access, infrastructure, and maybe pour concrete pads for buildings, whose use, construction, and precise location would be determined by end users as yet unknown. Conditions of the CUP become law. Any changes would require another full CUP process.

What happens in the meantime? If Tract clears the land, puts in roads and other infrastructure, but the demand for data center sites goes away, what will Goochland be left with? How much of the site will be clear cut? We don’t need a Motorola redux.

The zoning will not change from its current A-2. Projections for tax revenue generated by the project suggest that assessed valuation will increase when the use changes from A-2 to “commercial” after the first building is occupied. Does this mean that the county gleans little additional revenue apart from various permit fees on the land in the interim? Tax revenue projections indicate that assessed valuations will increase from the 2025 amount of $13,954 to $22.9 million in “year 1” which is the first year after a building is constructed.  The most significant tax revenue will be generated by personal property tax levied on the equipment in the buildings, again with significant increases after ‘year 1” whenever that is.

No answer was available to the query about land use taxation “clawbacks” for some of the parcels. Typically, when property in land use taxation— used for agricultural or forestal  purposes— is rezoned for a higher use, a “clawback” payment of the difference between land use taxation, based on a per acre rate determined at the state level, and taxes based on fair market valuation for the previous five years is due. If the CUP is approved, the “highest and best use” of the property has changed, and the assessed value should increase accordingly.

Eli Lilly recently closed on the West Creek parcel for about $38 million, an increase of about $13 million over its assessed valuation as of January 1, 2026, which should impact county tax revenue in the coming months.

When will an increase in local tax revenue for the 871 acres kick in? This information needs to be part of the calculus used in the final decision. This land has been designated for economic development for decades.  It was referred to as SPEDA (southern economic development area) for decades and featured prominently in the southern infrastructure study begun in early 2023.

In response to a question about posting bonds to fund decommissioning of data centers at the end of their useful life, as is required of cell towers, the Bowyers contended said that data centers are warehouses full of computer equipment and when that equipment is removed, they can be used for other purposes.

Opponents would prefer the site to be used for office buildings, for which there is little current market demand. For example, the former Federal Reserve facility in West Creek, a beautiful turnkey headquarters, has been on the market for a while.

Serious concerns about sound, including constant humming and especially from generators were raised. The explanation was that generator use is regulated by the state, but data centers must operate 24/7, so in emergencies, generators would run continually, not for intermittent testing. More detail on this is needed. Many of the examples cited by opponents seem to be based on older facilities and those that were retrofitted from other uses.

Concerns about emissions from data centers and generators were glossed over by saying that they will dissipate in the air. Really?  This reply was lame at best. The impact on air quality within perhaps a half mile of generators running for extended periods should be compared to that within the same distance from vehicle emissions on 288 during high traffic periods to put it into perspective.