Turn, turn, turn

 

Green T intersection (VDOT image)

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Tract, the entity that filed a conditional use application to build a data center campus on more than 800 acres roughly between Hockett Road and West Creek in the county’s east end, held a second community meeting on September 14 to explain and discuss changes made to the initial CUP application following the first meeting held in July.

Go to https://www.youtube.com/live/YQ_zk0LHj_Y to view a recording of the meeting. Also, see https://www.tuckahoetechparkinfo.com/facts for updated details on the proposal.

Unlike the first meeting, which seemed dismissive of citizen comments, on September 14 the Tract representative, Erin Fosdick, tried to address and respond to questions and concerns. Opponents will only be satisfied if the proposal is withdrawn.

Revisions to the CUP application including more robust and binding requirements for setbacks, sound mitigation, water use, and generator testing for end users, which could be several entities that have not yet been identified, were shared. The focus was on the operational phase of data centers, years in the future.

The initial CUP pre-application—for the record any landowner in Goochland is entitled to file a pre-application to request land use changes, with no guarantee it will be approved—showed the main access point to the proposed data center campus on the north side of Rt. 6, just east of its intersection with Hockett Road. They could not have chosen a more treacherous location.

The revised CUP application moved the main access point to Hockett Road, a couple of miles north of Rt.6 for all construction and operational traffic. Something called a "green " intersection, allegedly approved by the geniuses in the VDOT—the state agency whose motto is “Oops!”—bunker somewhere under Richmond, will improve safety and traffic flow. This right in, right out configuration could require fully loaded dump and logging trucks to make U turns, should they need to go east. Fosdick said that traffic from the site would be required to travel south only, with no mechanism for enforcement.

There is no mention of any improvement to the narrow, winding section of Hockett Road to accommodate the multitude of heavy equipment needed to build the proposed data center campus. Construction would begin at 7 a.m. just in time for big trucks to mix with commuter traffic. Who will pay for the pavement damage caused by all that heavy truck traffic on Hockett Road? Fosdick seemed to indicate that there could be further discussion on this matter but did confirm that all road improvements must be complete before any data center construction starts.

Regardless of whether the data center campus is approved, at some point those 870 acres will be developed. Currently the property is heavily wooded. It seems likely that the justification for land use tax status on some of its parcels is that they are in forestal use, trees grown for commercial purposes.

Where will all those trees go after they are felled? How will the land be cleared?  Fosdick touted the low floor area ratio (FAR), the percentage of land to be covered by buildings, but the actual acreage expected to be clear cut is still quite vague.  The application includes open space—areas with no buildings—percentages but does not specify if that means trees removed.

The Tract application includes sound abatement measures for data center and generator operations, Fosdick contended that those same noise standards would apply to construction activity. There was no mention of enforcement of sound mitigation during construction. Are there quiet chainsaws and bull dozers?

Rather than dump heavy construction vehicles into Hockett Road traffic for the next several years, Tract should build a new, straighter, wider and safer roadway along its frontage as a show of good faith.