Fauquier supervisors preview rezoning changes at Remington Technology Park, including temporary gas turbine yard and larger proffers

Miss Shellenberger, a county planner presenting the proposal, told the board the Remington Technology Park site is just under 234 acres and that the rezoning amendment would update the approved concept plan and proffers for future data-center development.

Shelllenberger said the revised concept keeps the previously approved 1.8 million square feet cap and 45-foot height limit but raises the projected maximum electrical load to 600 megawatts and adds an on-site gas turbine equipment yard to provide supplemental power “until Dominion can deliver all the power for the project.” She outlined proffered limits for the turbine yard including a 4.5-acre maximum, a 200-foot minimum setback from all property lines and an emissions cap for the turbines of no more than 100 tons of NOx per year.

Commissioners asked technical and community-impact questions throughout the lengthy presentation and Q&A. One asked what the county means by “recycled water” for cooling; Shellenberger said the county has historically interpreted the term to mean closed-loop systems and that potable water and groundwater are not allowed for cooling, explaining that “it basically can’t use potable water. It can’t use groundwater, and it’s historically been interpreted as a closed loop system.”

Board members sought more detail on noise, air emissions and testing. The presenter said the applicant added noise-limit proffers that are more restrictive than the county code and that noise testing is currently written in the proffers as no more than one set of measurements per calendar year, a frequency several supervisors called insufficient. On emissions she said the applicant applied to the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality for air permits and that the county will evaluate consistency with zoning when permits and more detailed modeling are available.

Several supervisors pressed the applicant’s schedule and guarantees tied to proffered payments. Shellenberger said the applicant proposes increasing parks-and-recreation contributions from $6,000,000 to $10,000,000 and advancing portions of that payment to fixed intervals after rezoning approval (for example, one portion at roughly 90 days), but acknowledged the county does not typically hold proffer funds in escrow and that an appeal to the rezoning would pause payment timing: “Everything would be on hold till the court system works its way through because we wouldn’t know whether the proffers were valid at that point.”

Supervisors also raised proximate-safety concerns about a high-pressure gas transmission line that runs along Lucky Hill Road and borders the project site, the potential for sustained noise from continuous turbine operation, the location and decommissioning of backup diesel generators, and whether a privately operated generating facility would create novel regulatory and public-safety demands for the county.

Shelllenberger said the proffers include a 12-foot screening wall along Lucky Hill Road, decommissioning requirements (decommission within 12 months after 12 months of nonuse), employee training and coordination with the fire marshal for emergency response plans, and that certain aspects (DEQ permits, VDOT turn-lane approvals) will be addressed through those agencies’ processes.

Next steps: staff said the item is slated for a public hearing next month. Supervisors requested additional materials before that hearing, including more detailed emissions figures, clearer noise-study parameters and testing frequency, the applicant’s timeline and any escrow/guarantee language on procurement of proffer funds, and clarifications on how the county would coordinate emergency planning and approvals.