An anticipated report on data center development in Prince George’s County is out, after community pushback to a fast-tracked data center at the Landover Mall site halted the plan.
An anticipated report on data center development in Prince George’s County is out, after community pushback to a fast-tracked data center at the Landover Mall site halted the plan and contributed to the county taking a closer look at how it will handle the controversial projects moving forward.
The 400-page report makes clear that data centers will be welcomed in the county, but only under certain circumstances — and with lots of community say in where they’re located.
“We really don’t want what happened in Landover to ever happen again,” said Prince George’s County Council member Wala Blegay, who also served on the task force behind the report. “The process that will be put in place will require some sort of special exception, which will require many community meetings. So the community will have very much of an impact on what happens.”
Those special exceptions will add layers to the approval process, resulting in more hearings and more chances for community input that could slow down or even stop projects from moving forward, if there’s enough opposition.
Of the report’s 14 recommendations, many focused on zoning and environmental concerns. The report calls on data centers to be steered toward industrial zones, especially ones considered underperforming and vacated, while keeping them away from urban areas with large populations. It also aims to keep them away from parts of the county considered environmentally sensitive.
One recommendation even suggests letting developers go bigger in size in certain circumstances.
“There was a consensus if you had an area that was sort of far away from the community, in a place where it was kind of deserted, and that you had the land to go big, that would be an easier process than some of the other areas,” Blegay said.
Other recommendations called on incentivizing more sustainable operations, due to concerns about how data centers would have an impact audibly and visibly around the county.
Right now data centers have to be at least 300 feet away from residential homes. The report recommends moving that to 400 feet in most cases. If certain design elements are implemented that reduce overall impact, the 300-foot buffer could stay in place.
The report also calls on county leaders to push for a high-energy use surcharge in the hopes of keeping power bills lower for residents.
“I do think that Landover put us in a bad situation because it was not done the right way,” Blegay said. “That has put a lot of fear and concern in the community about any data center moving forward. However, there are areas that I do think some people might say that there might be a better place for data centers versus Landover. And at least if there is an agreement, those be can be considered. But definitely not in the middle of a residential community.”
Those concerns also helped lead the task force to recommend the creation of community benefit agreements, which essentially attaches strings to any future data center proposals.
“The benefit has to go to the community,” Blegay said. “The residents will be a part of that, and the community will be guaranteed to get something.”
She told WTOP not all the recommendations were unanimous among committee members, as some were concerned about discouraging development.
Blegay said she isn’t buying that.
“A lot of our residents are very well connected in the industry, and are bringing these ideas to the table, and they’re bringing it regardless of the process,” Blegay said. “Even if they go other places, they’re going to experience the same opposition.”
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