A closer look at Culpeper County’s technology zones | Technology

Eligible businesses can also receive 100 percent reimbursement of costs associated with county building permits and site plan review.

The technology zones are located along Lovers Lane, McDevitt Drive, Braggs Corner, in Brandy Station and at the airpark in Elkwood, all generally following James Madison Highway.

So why doesn’t Amazon build its proposed data centers in one of these technology zones and not on farmland—requiring a zoning change to light industrial—along Route 3 in Stevensburg?

It’s a question that those in the historic and natural resources conservation community have been asking as they mount opposition to a proposed pair of data centers covering 10 fenced-in acres on a 243-acre parcel currently in use as an equestrian center.

The site is next to the colonial manse at Salubria, a National Register listed property, and it is overlooked by a state-recognized Civil War historic site at Hansbrough’s Ridge, on the edge of the up-and-coming Culpeper battlefields state park here.

The preservation community has been vocal in opposing the project as being in the wrong location.

The Culpeper County technology zones, incentives and associated county code have been around since 2006, according to County Planning Director Sam McLearen.

The data center at Terremark, today’s Equinix, was the first—and so far, the only qualified business—to locate in a technology zone, along McDevitt Drive. The facility expanded in ensuing years to span four data centers.

There have been other types of commercial and industrial developments in these areas, McLearen said, listing a hotel, office building, industrial complex and gas station with convenience store and mini storage.

“I don’t believe any of those qualify as a ‘technology zone business’ as described in the county code relating to taxation,” he said.

Culpeper County Economic Development Director Bryan Rothamel, on the job for six months, said his office markets available property in the county on its web site, noting areas in the technology zones.

A technology zone site on McDevitt Drive sold in September, but there have been no plans submitted for it yet, Rothamel said.

“Technology zones are generally created within the commonwealth to have targeted, by-right incentivized areas,” he said.

Asked about available electric supply in these areas as it relates to data centers, Rothamel said data center power usage is substantially more than a typical industrial user.

“In our discussions with our electric service providers, we understand this type of usage would normally require upgrades to power supply for almost any site within Culpeper County,” he said. “Some areas in the county have enough for a phased approach.”

Amazon, through its subsidiary Marvell Development, is proposing to build the estimated half-billion dollar project in phases, with an anticipated 15 to 30 months to construct each structure, which will be 45 feet tall. Roof mounted facilities would add another 12 feet, according to the most recent submission from the applicant.

The site location at Magnolia Equestrian Center, privately owned, sits along a four-lane divided highway in proximity to the recently upgraded Remington-Gordonsville Dominion transmission line. The new lines have enough electricity to power the project, unlike in the county’s so-called technology zones, according to John Foote, Marvell’s Northern Virginia attorney.

This is a reason Marvell chose the location for the Amazon data center, Foote said, and because there is a willing landowner.

The request going before the Culpeper County Board of Supervisors Tuesday night is to rezone the parcel from agricultural to light industrial.

The Planning Commission last month, by a 5-4 vote, recommended denial of the rezoning after its initial review of the case, following hours of public comment against it.

More public comments against it are expected Tuesday night. The Brandy Station Foundation, Friends of Cedar Mountain Battlefield, Germanna Foundation, Journey Through Hallowed Ground, Piedmont Environmental Council, Preservation Virginia, American Battlefield Trust, National Parks Conservation Association and Southern Environmental Law Center together wrote the Culpeper County Board of Supervisors to express they “strongly believe this project is inappropriate for the proposed area.”

Points made in the letter include that data centers are welcome in existing industrial-zoned tech corridors; the rezoning goes against the comp plan which has the area zoned for agricultural use; and the project threatens historic resources. The groups also said the Amazon data centers at the Stevensburg location would endanger the proposed state park.

On March 31, Foote submitted 10 pages of comments answering staff questions about the project. Questions answered related to water usage, screening and landscaping, noise, emergency services training, traffic impact and historic resources. The document is viewable at Culpeper County Boarddocs.

In the submission, Foote said the project, once operational, would generate, $5-$8 million annually in local taxes.