Third deferral likely for Eastern Henrico data center proposal

A proposal that would allow data centers, advanced manufacturing and other uses on a 622-acre site adjacent to the White Oak Technology Park in Sandston appears headed for its third deferral when the Henrico Planning Commission meets later this week.

The White Oak Technology Park 2 proposal, from Richmond-based developer Hourigan, is scheduled to be heard at the March 14 Henrico Planning Commission meeting, but in a staff report, Henrico planners recommended that it be deferred for a third time in three months “to allow more time for the applicant to improve their request.” Hourigan last week requested that deferral, to the commission’s April 11 meeting; commissioners will vote on that request at Thursday’s meeting. The case previously was deferred in January and February at the company’s request, to allow time to address input from planners and citizens.

Hourigan is seeking light industrial zoning for the entire site, which is currently zoned agricultural but is envisioned as a mixture of office, commercial, residential, open space and environmental protection uses by the county’s 2026 Comprehensive Plan. Once the planning commission has heard the case, it will vote to make a recommendation to the Henrico Board of Supervisors, which then will hold its own public hearing before voting on the matter.

Last month, the company submitted its first conceptual plan, which envisioned 13 data centers on the site at the interchange of I-295, I-64 and Williamsburg Road. Updated site plans from the company, made public last week, no longer refer to data centers but instead label the same sections of the site merely as “buildable areas.”

Hourigan has proffered a specific list of uses that would be permitted on the site, including data centers, office space, artisan and light manufacturing, minor utility and accessory uses, and any other use permitted in the M-1 industrial district (pending approval through a provisional use or conditional use permit) except heavy manufacturing.

Updated proffers address some concerns, but not all

Hourigan’s proposal has come under intense scrutiny from the Henrico Environmental Action Network, a group of citizens who have concerns about the potential impacts of data centers on the environment. Weeks ago, HCAN submitted to Hourigan a 12-page "wish list" document outlining dozens of proposed proffers (voluntary development conditions and standards) within 29 separate categories that it wanted the developer to include with its proposal.

That list included everything from desired setbacks of buildings (generally 300 feet from the property’s outer boundary lines) to potential allowable hours for construction (from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., or dusk, within 500 feet of any residential lot) to water-usage standards (requesting a water-usage estimate with detailed building plans as part of the plan-of-development approval process for buildings on the site).

The latest set of proffers submitted to the county by Hourigan March 1 meet some of those requests but not others. For example, the company proffered a minimum building setback of 100 feet from specific property boundary lines (rather than the 300 feet sought by HCAN) and a maximum building height of 93 feet (taller than the 75-foot limit HCAN had requested but shorter than the 110-foot limit permitted under the proposed zoning classification). It also did not adopt a request from HCAN to acknowledge, interpret or preserve historic sites on the property, which includes portions of the Seven Pines and Savage Station Civil War battlefields (though it did proffer an archeological study of the site and the installation of a historic marker).

But, as requested by HCAN, the company proffered that noise levels on the site would not exceed 70 decibels during daytime and evening hours (7 a.m. to 10 p.m. on weekdays, 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. on weekends and holidays) and would not exceed 55 decibels during overnight hours. It also proffered that at least 50% of all landscaping additions would be native species and proffered construction hours between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m., or dusk, Monday through Saturday and 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Sundays, in keeping with HCAN’s requests.

“The proffers address a number of items raised by staff and concerns expressed by citizens; however, staff notes many items could still be enhanced to further reduce potential impacts,” Henrico planners wrote in an updated report published earlier this month, though that report was finalized before Hourigan submitted its most recent proffers March 1.

That latest list from the company included its commitments to:

• limit to 65% the amount of the site that would be covered by buildings, parking or access drives, thereby leaving 35% as open space to address potential floods and reduce stormwater runoff onto adjacent land;
• build all data centers on the site to LEED Silver standards or the equivalent;
• provide specific noise standards for data centers;
• allow vehicular access to the site only from Technology Boulevard and Williamsburg Road (with emergency access from Old Williamsburg Road as well);
• build sidewalks for public use along the portions of Williamsburg Road and Technology Boulevard that adjoin the property;
• ensure that at least 50% of all plantings on the site be native species;
• require that emergency diesel generators (commonly built to support data centers) be located behind buildings or screened from public right-of-way or homes by walls, fences, landscaping or other means as deemed necessary;
• construct buildings “using best practices in the industry with respect to building construction, noise attenuation, and cooling technologies;”
• dedicate a 50-foot-wide right-of-way to the county to accommodate the future construction of a connector road between Technology Boulevard and Old Memorial Drive.

Hourigan also proffered specific design standards for any data centers built on the site, including:

• building all data centers according to “best practice sustainability measures;”
• using a minimum of 50% of solar power for aeration of stormwater management facilities;
• using heat-reflective roofing on at least 60% of a data center’s roof.

HCAN officials seek stricter proffers

In a statement to the Citizen last week, HCAN officials expressed hope that Hourigan would adopt more of its proposed proffers.

“HCAN welcomes the delay in the case as an opportunity to fix some of the worst parts of this rezoning,” those officials wrote. “HCAN has proposed guidelines and industry standards that are in use with other similar developments. Those standards include protection of air quality, improved efficiency of water and electrical usage, conservation of as much of the woods and wildlife as possible at the site, minimizing off-site impact of noise, and preserving the historic Savage Station Battlefield. The standards that HCAN has offered are not extreme or radical; rather, they are what are becoming the minimum guidelines across the industry.”

The 622-acre Sandston site is largely undeveloped and wooded, with a pond and two residential structures. It covers most of the area from where Interstate 295 crosses Interstate 64 east of Richmond down to Old Williamsburg Road, Technology Boulevard, and Old Memorial Drive. Hourigan officials expressed a desire to model the project after the existing White Oak Technology Park, a 2,278-acre industrial park site that is home to massive Facebook/Meta and QTS data centers, as well as corporate facilities for other companies such as Hewlett-Packard and Bank of America.

Though the company’s latest proffers include a minimum set of covenants and restrictions related to the development and maintenance of the site, Henrico planners urged Hourigan to “consider a stronger commitment to joining the existing White Oak Technology Park Owners Association and adopt similar covenants regarding future development.”

Adoption of stricter proffers, according to HCAN, would position Hourigan and Henrico to “lead the way in responsible development in this important industry. Without them, Henrico, and Eastern Henrico in particular, will join the ranks of those localities that are now trying to undo the effects of a nearly unbridled industry with an insatiable and outsized demand for energy, water, and other natural resources."