Back to the drawing board

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Goochland County is going back to the drawing board to revise the ordinance that created the Technology Overlay District (TOD) last November. A letter was mailed to every household in Goochland announcing the initiative and inviting residents to a community meeting on August 27.

There was no agenda for the meeting, which filled the high school auditorium and was facilitated by County Administrator Dr. Jeremy Raley. His opening remarks explained the zoning amendment process. Going forward, language amending the TOD, M-1 and M-2 zoning districts will be crafted, using input from the session and to align it with state law that recently went into effect regarding energy.  The zoning amendments will allow data centers only in the TOD footprint, which he contended is the only place in the county with infrastructure to support them.  Basically, no data centers west of Hockett Road.

As is required of all zoning changes, the proposed amendments, which are expected to include specific standards for data centers, will then be referred to the planning commission for its recommendation after a public hearing and then on to the supervisors for a final vote. This is why yellow “zoning action” signs have been deployed around the edges of the TOD.

The TOD was created to impose greater restrictions than in existing M-1 zoning for hi tech companies provided.  Since the TOD was approved last November, citizens have repeatedly asked that strict and very specific standards for data centers be added to the ordinance.

(Two planning commissioners, Amanda Kowalski, District 2 and Jess McLaughlin, District 2, submitted their resignations after last week’s marathon meeting about a proposed shooting range in District 1. For those interested in filling these vacancies go to https://goochlandva.granicus.com/boards/w/6b9d5c7521fc8c16. Given the complicated nature of recent land use cases and the vitriol directed at planning commissioners, it’s miracle that anyone would be willing to serve.)

Citizen remarks made during more than three hours could be condensed into “prohibit data centers anywhere in Goochland County and permanently banish them to the seventh circle of hell”.

Earlier in the month, the county received a formal conditional use permit (CUP) application for TTP, a data center campus proposed on the 871 acres zoned A-2, known as “TOD west,” between Hockett Road and West Creek. Go to https://www.goochlandva.us/1480/Tuckahoe-Technology-Park.  The Tuckahoe Technology Park (TTP) project has become a test case illustrating the need for clear, specific standards in the TOD.

Raley explained that while the county is obligated by state law to accept and review land use change applications, there is no guarantee that they will be approved.

The county’s response to TTP about the completeness of its submission, also available on the above link, pokes so many holes in application that it resembles a colander. At best the submittal is sloppy, at worst an insult to Goochland. Another TTP community meeting has been scheduled for Monday, September 14, hopefully to address inadequacies.

The list of deficiencies cited by the county in the initial application is nine pages long. Some seem rather basic, for instance, the correct legal name should be VALCO2. Corrected State Corporation Commission Article of Corporation and other legal documents relating to the several entities involved in the application are needed. It is unclear if the owner of one of the parcels is living or dead. Operating agreements and related documents including signing authority for the several entities involved are also needed.

Other information needed to evaluate the application include updated noise studies and modeling; the total number of generators; updated water and wastewater studies to reflect the change to an air-cooled loop system; a health impact assessment; environmental impact study; and air quality impact study, all of these must be performed by qualified professionals.

A plan for decommissioning the site when it is no longer needed was also requested.

VDOT did not approve the bizarre and treacherous citing of the main entrance on the north side of Rt. 6 in the dip east of Hockett Road but prefers that the main access point be on Hockett Road well north of Rt. 6. A condition the county could impose here would be to require TTP to widen Hockett Road from the access point to Rt. 6 and permanently signalize the intersection. As all the land is owed by the entities involved, there would be no wrangling for easements. The improved road would be built faster and cheaper than if done by VDOT. This is typically part of residential rezoning projects.

Then there is the money. There were several questions about the methodology used to arrive at revenue projections, including rollback taxes for properties currently in land use.  A “more accurate estimate of real estate value should be based on our County Assessor’s assumption of $343,200,000 for 780K square feet of data center” would help clarify these projections.

The county also wants assurance that future individual operations in TTP will comply with all conditions and regulations stipulated in the CUP.

There were also questions about how construction would be managed to minimize impact on the surrounding community.

Comments in the nine-page response suggest that the TTP applicant, whoever that may be, file a new application correcting the deficiencies and start the approval process all over. Looks like this will be the focus of the September 14 meeting.