Ad hominem—look it up—attacks in comment will not be
published.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.
9 comments:
Ironic - you can dish it out but can’t take it - maybe You need to check the definition. Not very nice to refer to your neighbors as refugees from Long Island. They are Goochlanders as much as you are. They have a right to wear “cute red tee shirts” and protest as it’s their American right. If this was in your backyard you would feel the same way and your heartlessness shows who you really are. You would probably like to see them arrested though for daring to stand up to the BoS dictators. The belittlement of people who moved here because the BoS approved their development to be built is quite crass. What is even more concerning is you believing anything Tract or the County is saying about data centers. This will destroy so much of our quality of life and you don’t care. Pay attention to the evidence and look at what has happened in Loudoun County. These developers lie and then it’s too late. This issue needs to be brought to a vote like a real democracy - let the county decide at the ballot box whether they want the issues data centers bring to outweigh the capital you are so obsessed with. Why is revenue from Eli Lilly, the Rockville corridor, Oilville industrial, and the new warehouses in West Creek not enough? What is the explanation for being so hellbent on bringing data centers right next to people’s homes?
What good is the A2 zoning if there are massive polluting energy sucking warehouse complexes built on it? Are we supposed to be assured and feel good that there’s a conditional use permit? What about all of the rest of the TOD - land going right up to the Avery retirement home, Henrico communities, Readers Branch, Kinloch, and Mosaic that won’t require a CUP?
Perhaps the county could pitch Tyson Foods on coming back to the area with an updated processing plant, or maybe FedEx or UPS with a state of the art distribution center? Sure, traffic will really suck along Hockett Road, but the end result is that data centers will start looking pretty good in comparison!
So glad to have moved out of Goochland. It is a shame what the county is becoming, and the good ole boys/girls who abide it in the name of greed.
My comment did not contain an “ad hominem” attack yet you chose not to post it, presumably because it brought to light facts about the BoS you are uncomfortable with acknowledging. If you are going to be biased in reporting and moderating, there is no point to engage with your blog going forward. Some food for thought.
This is a great idea. There are already massive logistics warehouse facilities in the works on West Creek Pkwy, Tuckahoe Creek Ct, and Ashland Rd for FedEx and UPS to potentially do operations from (unless what I have seen others hypothesize on Facebook is true and there are secretive plans to bait and switch and have these converted to data centers at a later date). It is only a matter of time before we see an increase in 18-wheeler traffic on our thoroughfares. However, Tyson’s or another food facility could be a fit and huge economic driver for a portion of the West Creek property along Hockett Rd. Greenswell Growers is a similar industry and already exists on this stretch of Hockett. This would be keeping with Goochland’s agricultural roots and provide significantly more jobs than a data center would. It is also a much better use of the local water supply.
Perhaps the tentatively planned 288 interchange for a future road between the Broad St and Tuckahoe Creek Pkwy exits could be partially financed by the corporation, with an exit spurring off to their campus like Capital One’s. Hockett Rd itself could even be realigned to connect over 288 with the dead end of Wilkes Ridge Pkwy. This arrangement would also present an opportunity for a buffer of new residential development to be built between Readers Branch. This would give new homebuyers a way to “know what they are getting into,” and not feel that there is a surprise with what is built close by, and potentially appease Readers Branch residents by knowing they won’t directly back up to zoning they weren’t sold on. This way a facility would not directly border residential but instead be bound by a road, but would most likely be opposed by Carmax as a direct neighbor. Carmax probably wouldn’t want a data center neighbor either though.
The “Tuckahoe Tech Park” Tract property along Hockett Rd is a different story. The land was never planned for commercial use and the topography does not make sense for the proposed scale of the buildings. This would be prime residential development property. Why waste golf course views?
It’s pretty rich for folks to complain about “ruining” the rural beauty of our county with data centers and other non-residential development—especially when those projects are going into land that was designated for exactly that use a long time ago—while they themselves live in crowded “house farms” (subdivisions) that irrevocably transformed what used to be gorgeous, unspoiled country I spent my youth horseback riding over.
Sprawling subdivisions don’t just change the view—they clog the roads, multiply traffic, and quietly ratchet up demand for police, fire/rescue, and schools until the county is left patching the gap. And they rarely bring in enough tax revenue to match the burden they create.
At least data centers (when properly planned and controlled) are predictable: contained footprint, clear purpose, and a use the land was meant to support. Meanwhile, subdivisions deliver the kind of “rural destruction” you can’t zoning-text away—complete with pollution from the endless car commutes and winter car-idling (just picture the scene in Mosaic alone).
I’ll take a well-planned, well-controlled data center over a tree-destroying, ecology-damaging, service-heavy subdivision any day.
Sad!
What if the Board voted for the TOD because Data Centers were going to come in by right with the M1/M2 zoning with only a 50ft setback from the residents?
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