by Geoff Fox
Washington County Board of Commissioners approved a 12-month moratorium on the acceptance, processing, reviewing and approval of applications, plans, or requests for data centers in Washington County during their June 30 meeting.
The commissioners voted 4-1 to provide the county sufficient time to develop policies, performance standards, and zoning regulations which would be the foundation guiding future proposals.
Officials said the time would be used to evaluate the potential impacts of large-scale data center facilities in Washington County.
Data center development has become a regional and national topic of interest and the potential impacts associated with these contemporary data center facilities are not specifically addressed in existing county zoning regulations.
Discussions need to take place before any permit applications are made in Washington County, officials said.
To advance public health, safety and welfare, commissioners said they want to obtain more information and during the moratorium period the county will take three steps.
First, they’d conduct research and evaluate the potential impacts of data center development on the environmental resources, utilities, local infrastructure, and land use compatibility.
They’d then engage residents, stakeholders, and subject matter experts in discussions regarding data center development, associated opportunities and challenges.
Finally, they’d review and consider text amendments to the county’s zoning ordinance and other applicable regulations which will establish applicable standards for future proposals, they said during the agenda item.
Data centers are defined as facilities that consist of one or more buildings used primarily for the storage, management, processing, and transmission of large amounts of digital data and house computing infrastructure such as computers, network equipment, systems, servers, appliances, and other associated components related to digital data operations.
Data centers can also require significant amounts of land, water, and electricity and may have implications for local infrastructure, county officials noted.
Other concerns raised during the commissioners’ meeting surround potential environmental impacts, including hazardous material storage and electronic waste disposal, noise generation from cooling systems and backup generators, and land use compatibility in agriculture and residential districts.
The county’s moratorium was approved to provide “adequate time to thoroughly study this emerging technology and land use potential.”
Officials noted it will also provide the county with time to adequately determine how future data center proposals, if any, can be evaluated for consistency with Washington County community goals and long-term planning objectives.
The moratorium is not intended to permanently prohibit data center development, commissioners said.
The moratorium became effective immediately upon adoption and will remain in effect for 12 months unless modified or extended by a majority vote of the Washington County Board of County Commissioners.
In Northern Virginia, there are over 600 data centers. In the state of Maryland, there are roughly 45 operational data centers, the closest of which are in Frederick. West Virginia has 10 with the closest being a small center in downtown Berkeley Springs. Pennsylvania has
