Alexandria City Council has joined a growing number of local residents asking Fairfax County to deny a substation associated with data center development just outside city limits.
In a letter to the Fairfax County Planning Commission, City Council cited “the incompatibility of heavy industrial use” near densely populated Alexandria. The letter was sent by Mayor Alyia Gaskins on behalf of the entire City Council.
“Data centers, substations and other industrial uses are approved locally, but the impacts – noise, environmental, energy, water usage, quality of life – are felt more broadly across jurisdictions,” the letter stated. “Alexandria residents will be directly impacted by this proposal.”
Starwood Capital Group had filed a permit application and building plans with Fairfax County in July for the 34-acre Plaza 500 site at 6299 Edsall Road in Lincolnia, which borders the city’s West End. The application is for Plaza 500 South, the first of two data center buildings it is seeking. According to the Washington Business Journal, the first phase calls for a 75-foot-tall data center over 226,469 square feet.
Because the data center could be allowed by right under the county’s zoning, residents have focused their opposition on the electrical substation needed to power it. Transmission lines between the proposed substation on Edsall Road and the existing Van Dorn substation received approval from the State Corporation Commission. The proposed substation still faces a public facilities 2232 review by the Fairfax County Planning Commission at 7 p.m. on Sept. 24.
Rep. Don Beyer (D-8), who represents Alexandria in Congress, also penned a letter to the Fairfax County Planning Commission requesting the substation application be denied.
“I recognize the importance of maintaining the infrastructure necessary to support our region’s economy and technological leadership,” Beyer wrote to the Planning Commission. “However, as we continue to experience unprecedented growth in data center development, we must ensure that these projects are appropriately located outside of residential areas.”
Tyler Ray, a homeowners association president who founded the Save Bren Mar Coalition due to the potential data center development, told FFXnow that City of Alexandria resident participation in the movement has grown.
“They recognize the data center and the substations impacts aren’t just going to be limited to Fairfax County, and that the health impacts, the diesel generator fumes, and all of that, it’s just a matter of which way the wind blows for where those harms are going to be,” Ray said.
The coalition instead has pushed for affordable housing or other mixed-use development they believe is more compatible with neighboring Alexandria.
Fairfax County’s Mason District Land Use Committee will make a recommendation on Sept. 22 ahead of the Planning Commission’s hearing. Even if the Fairfax County Planning Commission rejects the substation on Sept. 24, Dominion Energy has the right to appeal to the Board of Supervisors.
The full letter from City Council is below.
To Planning Commission Members:
On behalf of the City Council and the residents of the City of Alexandria, we respectfully request that you deny the application for the Edsall Data Center Substation 2232. The incompatibility of heavy industrial use in such proximity to a densely populated area of Alexandria residents is a clear and compelling reason to not support this application.
While we respect the authority of individual jurisdictions to make land use decisions, we felt the need to weigh in given the number of residences in the City of Alexandria that border the proposed data center and substation. Approval of this substation presents a serious threat to the health and safety of our residents and our ability to deliver livable residential conditions widely, including in some of our most vulnerable communities. Our concern is whether a facility of this size, together with the infrastructure required to power it, belongs this close to people’s homes. Data centers, substations and other industrial uses are approved locally, but the impacts – noise, environmental, energy, water usage, quality of life – are felt more broadly across jurisdictions. Alexandria residents will be directly impacted by this proposal.
The electrical substation under consideration requires both onsite and offsite utilities construction not previously anticipated. The Edsall 230 kV Electric Transmission Project, which includes installation of an associated overhead 230 kV line for approximately one mile to the west and south of the site to connect to the existing Van Dorn substation, along with 8 or 9 transmission towers, averaging 123’ in height, set within a 100’ wide cleared right-of-way in Resource Protection Areas (RPAs) for Backlick and Turkeycock Run. This significant utility installation is similarly incompatible with current and planned development.
Energy demands are high, causing the substation to be proposed because of the significant computer equipment and all-day operations, given that the data center facilities run constantly. If service from the local power grid dips below a prescribed threshold, emergency diesel generators are engaged to maintain continuity of operations and can contribute negatively to local air quality through the release of harmful fine particulates and nitrogen oxides.
Residents near substations have reported headaches, vertigo, nausea, difficulty sleeping, ear pain, and hypertension. These impacts could be associated with low frequency sound waves outside of normal human hearing range, which are generally not regulated under local noise ordinances or air quality standards.
We are all committed to building a great region, and that does not happen without thinking and acting regionally. This is why our jurisdictions worked so closely together to shape the Eisenhower West Small Area plan in 2015. Alexandria planning staff proactively reached out and worked in coordination with Fairfax County staff on the land use in the plan area adjacent to Plaza 500.
The substation should not be considered as though it was an isolated piece of equipment but rather considered within the context of the surrounding community, including Alexandria. We trust that the concerns of Alexandrians are considered like you would for Fairfax County residents. We would welcome the opportunity to discuss our concerns with you, share additional information, and answer any questions you may have. Thank you again for your continued partnership and for considering this request.
