Technology Overlay District shot down in New Kent County

The idea of Technology Overlay Districts (TOD) in New Kent County has been shot down.

New Kent’s Board of Supervisors voted unanimously to direct county to discontinue working on the TOD and using it as framework for data center regulations.

The TOD became a hot topic recently with the emergence of corporations looking to establish data centers throughout the United States. The establishing of the TOD could have allowed those companies to bypass traditional public hearings on the construction of data centers, allowing them to build the facility by right.

But Tuesday night’s meeting that spanned more than three hours saw several residents speak up against the TOD and data centers.

District 3 Supervisor Amy Pearson admitted that the thought of data centers in the county has been weighing heavily on her mind. She commented that she did not know if she was going to make the motion but wanted to protect New Kent County until a data center ordinance was in place.

“I move that the board of supervisors state a strong policy preference that no new data center conditional use permit (CUP) applications be filed or voluntarily advanced while the county develops appropriate zoning standards for data centers and related facilities,” Pearson’s motion went. “This acknowledges that there are no pending data center conditional use permit applications before the county as of today and directs staff to communicate this position to the prospective applicants to the extent permitted by law.”

Pearson’s first motion passed 5-0, buying some time for the board to address the situation. But during citizen comment period, the public let county leadership know that they were opposed to the TOD and other methods that would establish data centers in the county.

“I suggest that the Technology Overlay District not be approved by New Kent Count Board of Supervisors for our county,” commented Judith Harris. “Since our county’s establishment in 1654, New Kent has survived intense hardships through the Revolutionary and Civil Wars.

“New Kent County still continued onward,” she continued, mentioning how documents from the past were destroyed in battles. “New Kent does not need a data center to survive or flourish. This is a resilient county, and I expect nothing less in the future.”

Erin Merrion spoke about the surveys that were issued to citizens about their opinions on data centers.

“We know that 87 percent of the surveyors or the people that took the survey were not in favor of data centers,” Merrion said. “The study carried a tremendous amount of external validity, where the sample size and data analysis strongly represented the remainder of the population.

“Usually, you only need 200 participants for a good study,” Merrion continued. “We had about 750. And then, with a 95 percent confidence interval, that means the answers to the survey were scrubbed for any inconsistencies in participants’ answers that could have skewed the results.

“My question for the board is with those statistics published, under what conditions would you vote yes in favor of data centers against the wishes of 87 percent of the county?” Merrion concluded.

Additional comments flocked for nearly two hours, with more and more citizens speaking out against the TOD and data centers. When all comments were completed, Pearson took to the microphone for a motion to address both matters.

“I move that the board of supervisors declare that the draft Technology Overlay District as proposed is no longer the policy direction of the board and should not proceed in its current form,” she said. “I further move that the board direct county staff in consultation with the planning commission discontinue further work on the technology overlay as a framework for data center regulations, but to continue with the directive to prepare a draft data center ordinance for view by September with weekly updates.”

The board voted 5-0 to approve the motions, with those in attendance applauding the actions. While discussion about the TOD has concluded, a draft of the data center ordinance is expected to be presented at one of the September board meetings. The expectation is that an introduction of the ordinance will be presented at the regular meeting on Sept. 14, with a more thorough and detailed look at the document at the Sept. 29 work session.