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Loudoun Now for Feb. 29, 2024

Page 1

n LOUDOUN

4 | n LEESBURG

VOL. 9, NO. 16

8 | n PUBLIC SAFETY

15 | n PUBLIC NOTICES

We’ve got you covered. In the mail weekly. Online always at LoudounNow.com

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FEBRUARY 29, 2024

Hanna Pampaloni/Loudoun Now

A panoramic view shows the proximity of a data center under construction to the Briarfield Estates neighborhood in Arcola.

As Data Centers Encroach, Arcola Neighbors Seek a Way Out BY HANNA PAMPALONI

hpampaloni@loudounnow.com

The county Planning Commission on Monday opted not to vote on an application to rezone a residential neighborhood to light or medium industrial after public comment by residents from two Arcola neighborhoods was divided. One hundred people filled the audience with the majority speaking on the proposed change. Those in support of the rezoning were from residents and family members of the Hiddenwood neighborhood while those in opposition were from the Briarfield Estates neighborhood. The application comes from the residents of Hiddenwood themselves. The collective property is made up of 20 parcels totaling 28.92 acres and falls within the Dulles District. The proposal would allow for up to 756,029 square feet of development and permit uses including offices, data centers, warehouses, and a utility substation. Planning staff members recommended

denying the application. “The primary concern is that county plans call for the area to be developed as residential neighborhoods with a walkable street pattern,” Planner Marshall Brown told the commission. He said the countryside residential

zoning district caps nonresidential uses at 15% and envisions buildings no taller than four stories. The application proffers an additional 100-foot building setback from surrounding residential homes, that substations would be no closer than 200 feet to resi-

‘Very Exciting’

Leesburg Council Approves Annexation Deal BY NORMAN K. STYER nstyer@loudounnow.com

The Leesburg Town Council on Tuesday closed a five-year battle with the county government with the unanimous approval of a settlement agreement that will bring a 402-acre commercial center—including a 323-acre Microsoft data center campus—into the town boundaries. “This conversation started in 2018

and I thought it was going to be done, you know, in a couple of months,” Mayor Kelly Burk said. “So, five years later to finally have it done. It is very exciting.” The expansion is expected to generate more than $10 million per year in new tax revenue as the property fully develops. That money, Burk and other council members said, will be used to lower taxes on residents and move forward with needed capital projects. “One thing that I’m looking forward to once the papers are signed and the

dential homes, that 35.2% of the property would be retained as open space and additional architectural standards. Brown said staff was recommending that the application include more detail ENCROACHMENT continues on page 39 ink is dry and this thing is done is what we can do with the revenue that’s created from this from this venture,” Council member Zach Cummings said. “My aim as a council member is to ensure that our residents feel the direct benefit of this additional revenue so we can continue to grow our town and make it the best town in the Commonwealth of Virginia.” The deal also includes the commitment for a $2 million annual payment from the county government in the form of an economic development grant. That money, subject to a 3% annual escalator, will be used to alter the town’s utility rate ANNEXATION continues on page 39

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