The PR firm hired by the proponents of the PW Digital Gateway wants the media and the Board of County Supervisors to keep the “scorecard” on the number of speakers who will participate in citizens' time this evening. That is the wrong metric for gauging the views of the vast majority of Prince William County citizens.
There are approximately 100 landowners on Pageland Lane (and their extended families) who have a direct financial stake in receiving an extraordinary financial windfall payout for their land that is far above any reasonable expected return on their original investment. Add to that the dozen or so paid lawyers and some groups who have been promised financial grants from the landowners and solicited by the PR firm to speak in support. Some others have been misled by the promises of huge tax revenues to fund schools and other programs. That is the sum total of those groups.
In direct contrast, there are more than 100 groups representing tens of thousands of households and stakeholders in protecting the community directly impacting the water quality, historical and cultural resources, traffic gridlock, and property values of homes that will be reduced by data center industrial blight and noise. The HOA Roundtable itself represents more than 85,000 households who oppose the current Comprehensive Plan Amendment.
There are also the claims made by proponents that Prince William County will benefit from additional tax revenues from data center development. The truth is that no one knows the actual tax revenue benefits, but those data center placements and associated revenue can occur in more appropriate locations in Prince William County without the devastating impacts that will occur in the proposed Pageland Lane corridor that will provide a “land-sale lottery” win for those few landowners.
The HOA Roundtable is not opposed to data centers, and we support the goal of rebalancing the commercial tax base when possible. Appropriate placement of data centers that protects the interests of the communities, civic groups, HOAs and the vast majority of homeowners should be the guiding principles followed by the Prince William Board of County Supervisors.
Bristow Beat note: Many of the speakers at the Sept. 14-15 Planning Commission meeting were former applicants, people who were selling their land to data center developers. Because the county is now the applicant, landowners, data center developers and their lawyers are allowed to speak as citizens.
Support Bristow Beat - Donate Today!