The last week has been a busy one in the Trust’s ongoing fight against data center development on and around Virginia’s battlefields, and I want to update you on those developments.
As previously shared, although we and our fellow plaintiffs were disappointed in the circuit judge’s Halloween ruling against us in the demurrer hearing related to our case against the Prince William Digital Gateway at the Manassas Battlefield, it was not unexpected. We always knew that such a decision from a local court was possible, as many of our arguments relate to broader, statewide issues.
After consulting with counsel, our petition to the Virginia Court of Appeals was filed last week. Our attorney, former State Senator Chap Petersen, is confident in the challenge: “There is no question that the Prince William County Board of Supervisors violated state law and its own code in approving these rezonings. I am confident the Court of Appeals will recognize the merit of our case and order the board to reconsider its shortsighted decision.”
As a refresher, our case outlines an array of legal violations that occurred during the rezoning of the 2,100-acre Digital Gateway. These range from the lack of required information about the proposed development; inadequate public notice and hearings; unlawful waivers of key analyses, submissions and approvals; failure to consider key environmental and historical facts; and unlawful delegation of rezoning power to the data center developers by not requiring they identify which portions would be put to what uses. These, we believe, are claims with merit that deserve to be heard at the appellate level.
Speaking of efforts to urge high level consideration of data center issues, on Monday Virginia’s Joint Legislative Audit Review Commission released its long-awaited report to the Governor and General Assembly on the industry’s impact on the state. The year-long research project did much to document the profound and skyrocketing energy consumption of these behemoths and how they stand to overwhelm the state’s energy grid and saddle residents with hefty utility bills.
But, despite the impact on historic resources being one of the topics that JLARC was specifically tasked with investigating, the report did not delve too deeply into the subject. Of its 156 pages, fewer than three were devoted to the issue. When battlefields are mentioned, it’s as an example of historic resources that have been and could be impacted.
The only remotely relevant policy recommendation is a suggestion that the legislature could amend state code to require a Phase I historic resource study – the most cursory of investigations – be completed for the project to receive its tax breaks. But just lines later, the report acknowledges that most municipalities do not have professional staff with the expertise to parse such a report and examine its findings critically. In those cases, a consultant paid for by data center developers could certify the results – not an ideal circumstance. It was evident from the report that more advocacy is necessary for the threat of data to battlefields and other historic treasurers to be fully understood.
After reading the report, it is clearer to me than ever how necessary it is for the American Battlefield Trust to take a leadership role in this fight. Data centers pose a threat unlike any we have ever faced before — frankly, they make me long for the straightforward subdivisions we faced off against 15 years ago! Our steady advocacy is necessary to ensure that historic sites, which simply cannot be moved, remain part of the conversation when data center impacts are discussed.
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Please consider making a gift to help us fight these monstrosities through activities at the courthouse and in the statehouse. We are up against some of the wealthiest corporations on the planet, and your support can make a difference.
‘Til the battle is won,
David N. Duncan
President
American Battlefield Trust