Keep Prince William Strong – Prince William County can protect its future while honoring its commitments
Prince William County is a thriving community and an exceptional place to live, work, and raise a family. Our vitality and success are the result of years of strategic planning and thoughtful investments in education, infrastructure, and economic development.
Investment from the business community fuels economic growth across our region. It creates good-paying jobs close to home, generates tax revenue to support valuable community initiatives, and creates opportunities for future generations.
Companies that invest in our community need predictability to succeed. When commitments to businesses are changed midstream, it creates uncertainty—not only for those businesses, but for the broader economic development of Prince William County.
On September 22, the Board of County Supervisors will consider a zoning amendment that would end by-right data center development in Prince William County. By-right land zoning allows a property owner to develop their land without needing permit approval from our local zoning board. If adopted, every new data center would come before the Board in a public process for consideration.
The Prince William Chamber of Commerce supports that change.
Our members are not only the companies that build data centers. They are the contractors and electricians who work on those projects, the restaurants and shops that benefit from the activity they generate, and the small businesses that are increasingly being priced out of land that has become more valuable as a potential data center site than as a place to operate a business.
Our supervisors are right to recognize that by-right zoning has limited residents’ ability to weigh in on projects of this scale and contributed to rising real estate values that can put pressure on existing businesses. Requiring a public hearing and Board decision for future data center projects provides the community with a meaningful opportunity to participate in decisions that can have significant and lasting impacts.
The more difficult question is how the county should handle projects that are already underway or under construction.
The directive from Supervisor Gordy this spring that launched the zoning amendment provides a sensible path forward. It would allow projects already in the review process or under construction to proceed under the rules that were in place when they began. Future projects would be subject to the new process and come before the Board for a vote.
It is paramount that, as a community, we honor our commitments. Businesses rely on a stable regulatory environment and clear rules when making significant decisions about where to invest. Changing the rules in the middle of development would send a message that Prince William County is unpredictable—that the rules can change even after substantial investments have been made.
That uncertainty could extend well beyond the data center industry. It could affect employers in advanced manufacturing, life sciences, and defense—the same industries our economic development office works diligently to attract to Prince William County. It could affect companies considering a move to our community and entrepreneurs deciding whether to take the next step toward opening or expanding a small business.
Business owners already face significant challenges when starting or growing a company, including securing financing, finding suitable locations, building a workforce, marketing their businesses, and navigating the permitting process. Adding unnecessary uncertainty to those decisions would make an already difficult environment even more challenging.
The Board can provide predictability for businesses while addressing legitimate community concerns by adopting the amendment on September 22 with the transition proposed by Supervisor Gordy. In doing so, the county can establish clear standards for future data center projects, provide greater protection for neighborhoods, and honor commitments already made to businesses that have invested under the existing rules.
Prince William County can end by-right development of data centers while keeping its promises.
Together, we can ensure Prince William County remains a community where businesses can invest with confidence, families can thrive, and future generations have opportunities to build their lives and careers.
Steve Danziger, Chair of the Prince William Chamber of Commerce
Kristi Black, President & CEO of the Prince William Chamber of Commerce
