Newly approved data center development next to Chantilly mobile home community raises concerns

CHANTILLY, Va. — Fairfax County has approved a new data center development next to a mobile home community in Chantilly amid concerns.

On Tuesday, the Land Use and Planning Department approved an 8.2-acre data center proposal that would replace an existing data center complex along Westfax Drive.

The plan shows a roughly 70-foot data center approximately 150 feet away from the adjacent Meadows of Chantilly mobile home community. Another design shows the shorter portions of the building creep closer to the homes.

Since the area is zoned as industrial, the developer Starwood Capital Group has by-right use. Starwood applied in July and notified the mobile home community’s owner this year.

However, since it’s through by-right, the company isn’t required to seek input from the public nor supervisors.

Carlos Samora lives right next to the property. He questions what kind of impact the new development will have on him and his family.

“I didn’t have any idea about it,” Samora told WUSA9. “I think it’s a little bit close. It’s just right there.”

Nearby resident and community activist Cynthia Shang is concerned that a larger data center so close to mobile homes would negatively affect the environment, increase noise and damage quality of life.

“There's no other industry out there that is rapidly scooping up land as fast as they can and building as fast as they can as the data center industry,” Shang said. “We need to slow it down.”

A memo sent to county officials late last month in response to community concerns suggests the company followed every zoning rule in the county. 

A county spokesperson said staff confirmed that the site plan was in compliance with the development plan and proffers and was approved.

"The application followed the normal process, and the applicant adequately addressed all county requirements," he said.

The plan was approved just before a Fairfax County Board of Supervisors meeting on Monday. Members are expected to determine if they want to change the zoning ordinance that would restrict where data centers would go by-right and trigger a public hearing and approval strictly from supervisors and planning commission.

Another section of the meeting looked into changes to standards for developers to follow in the future including conducting a noise study, setting a minimum distance from homes, and analyzing exterior looks and enclosing all generators.

Lynne Strobel, the land-use attorney helping represent Starwood, urged zoning officials to grandfather previous applications.

“A considerable amount of time, money, and effort has gone into the preparation, submission and processing of these site plans and basic fairness dictates that the regulation should not be changed during that review process,” Strobel said in a zoning meeting in June.

Meanwhile, Shang and other community advocates are preparing to hold a rally on Wednesday night to demand for leaders to better analyze the negative impacts of data centers.