At the July 2 Board of Supervisors business meeting, the Orme Farm application will be on the agenda as another rezoning that could allow for data center use. The Orme Farm application is of concern for many of the same reasons as other recent applications. These applications with expanded data center uses would put additional strain on the power grid and other resources if constructed.

Orme Farm location.

The Orme Farm application is similar to other data center-related applications that have recently been before the Board. Concerns with this application align with recent trends of increasing awareness of the environmental implications of data center proliferation. The rezoning portion of this legislative application asks for a portion of the property to be rezoned for industrial uses, with “data center” included as a use for the parcel.

The main concern is the two special exceptions included in this legislative application. They ask for an increase in floor-area ratio (FAR) from 0.6 maximum to 1.0 maximum as well as an increased maximum lot coverage permitted from 0.45 to 0.60. Each of these requests intends to raise the server capacity of the data center, which would in turn increase its power usage. Both have been seen in several recent data center legislative applications and would contribute greatly to stress on the power grid.

The application includes several concessions for environmental resources on the property. These include a pollinator meadow, tree conservation area and recreational trail. Loudoun Wildlife Conservancy acknowledges that these are beneficial inclusions and appreciate the applicant’s adherence to the standards of the newly adopted 2023 Zoning Ordinance. However, we continue to maintain the position that on-site environmental concessions do not serve as an adequate counter to the damaging effects of continued legislative approval of data centers. These larger and more intense data centers aggravate the strain on our power grid and contribute to the negative impacts of increasing transmission needs.

We encourage you to attend the business meeting (July 2 at 4:00 pm in the Loudoun County Government Center Boardroom) to provide comments or write to your Supervisor and the full Board. Ask that the applicant exclude (“proffer out”) data center as a use for the parcel and oppose continued legislative approvals for larger data centers.

For more information:
Loudoun County staff presentation on Orme Farm application
History of the property and overview of the application

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