Residents from eight ZIP codes packed a room in Charles E. Beatley, Jr. Central Library Saturday (Aug. 15) to discuss concerns with the Plaza 500 data center plans just outside Alexandria city limits.
The Alexandria People’s Assembly, an advocacy group formerly known as PLTI of Alexandria that seeks to support marginalized people, organized the community forum.
Executive director Adrienne Fikes said the organization decided to host a community discussion after learning about Fairfax County’s upcoming decision regarding a substation needed to power data centers at Plaza 500. Fikes shared concerns about data centers worsening health and socioeconomic disparities in Alexandria and the region.
“Severe socioeconomic health disparities already exist in Alexandria and Northern Virginia before the explosion of data centers,” Fikes told ALXnow. “The environmental and social impacts of data centers are creating community health concerns for all residents that will likely exacerbate existing disparities.”
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 Alexandria’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.
While the data center could be allowed by right under the county’s zoning, one related item that needs approval is a proposed substation on Edsall Road. Transmission lines between the proposed Edsall Road substation and the existing Van Dorn substation received approval from Virginia’s State Corporation Commission, but the substation still faces a public facilities 2232 review by the Fairfax County Planning Commission at 7 p.m. on Sept. 24. Before the Sept. 24 hearing, Fairfax County’s Mason District Land Use Committee will make a recommendation at its Sept. 22 meeting at 7:30 p.m.
Several environmental, community and planning experts participated in the Beatley Library forum — Andre Newman, president of the Jefferson Green and the Bren Mar Recreation Associations; Renee Grebe, Northern Virginia advocate with Nature Forward; Oluwatimilein “Timi” Bamgbola, an advocate with the No Landover Data group in Prince George’s County, Md.; Margaret Williams from Watergate at Landmark and the surrounding community; and Julie Strandlie, former Fairfax County Planning Commission member.
Members of Alexandria City Council were in attendance, and City Councilman Abdel Elnoubi and Climate Officer Ryan Freed were featured as panelists. The forum also acknowledged the work of the Save Bren Mar coalition to organize community awareness about the data center project.
Grebe told ALXnow Nature Forward opposes additional large data centers in densely populated areas, as well as less developed suburbs without proper environmental guardrails. According to Grebe, the proposed substation 67 feet from the nearest residential community also conflicts with the planning vision for the area.
“We do not know what the water withdrawal or water discharge impacts will be, but both are concerns for us,” Grebe said. “Several dozen diesel generators put the air quality at risk for this neighborhood and the broader surrounding area. This data center, less than a mile from the Metro, further upends the vision of a walkable, bikeable, resident-friendly neighborhood.”
Grebe says the substation is the only public comment opportunity for the Plaza 500 campus over four years since data center plans emerged. Nature Forward and various other organizations wrote to Fairfax County’s planning and zoning staff to recommend denial of the substation.
Various elected officials have come out against the substation proposal, including Mayor Alyia Gaskins and Alexandria City Council, Rep. Don Beyer (D-8) and Supervisor Andres Jimenez (D-Mason), who represents the Lincolnia area.
