PITTSYLVANIA COUNTY, Va. – Pittsylvania County is moving into the future with plans to potentially build a new data center.
The project could represent up to $5 billion in investment, according to the Pittsylvania County Industrial Development Authority. The data center, a first of its kind in Pittsylvania, could also create up to 500 jobs and contribute up to $120 million in tax revenue over a 10 to 15-year period, though it’s too early to say for sure.
On Tuesday, the county’s Board of Supervisors voted to rezone 945 acres from agricultural and residential to industrial.
The board voted unanimously to approve the rezoning request and some members spoke to the need for a large project such as this in the county.
“Even though we have some pretty good industry coming in, what do we really have for the future, that would help us pay our bills and help keep our tax rate low. Not a whole lot. We have a promising future,” Vice-Chairman Vic Ingram said.
The proposal does have some opposition from neighbors who live near the property being rezoned.
“I have no problem with data centers. I have a problem with turning a residential area into a data center,” Rux Cannady said.
A lot of concerns expressed at planning commission meetings and board meetings revolve around traffic, noise and light.
“Please think how you would feel seeing these bright lights at night and hearing this noise and the increased traffic that it will produce,” Ann Smith said.
The project would be in compliance with county ordinances about noise, and it would adhere to “Dark Sky” principles that are designed to mitigate light pollution.
Despite the concerns, supervisors wanted something that will benefit the county years down the line.
“Even though we have some pretty good industry coming in, what do we really have for the future, that would help us pay our bills and help keep our tax rate low. Not a whole lot. We have a promising future,” Supervisor Eddie Hite said.
According to the Virginia Economic Development Partnership, the state hosts the largest data center market in the world and is home to 150 such centers — or about 35% of all known hyperscale data centers worldwide.
Most of these are in Northern Virginia, however, Mecklenburg County has a data center run by Microsoft and several others are located across Southwest Virginia.