PLAYOFF FOOTBALL: Inspired defense leads Battlefield over Patriot 26-6. SPORTS, PAGES 14, 16
November 16, 2023 | Vol. 22, No. 46 | www.princewilliamtimes.com | $1.00 Covering Prince William County and surrounding communities, including Gainesville, Haymarket, Dumfries, Occoquan, Quantico and the cities of Manassas and Manassas Park.
Residents vow to continue fight against Bristow data centers By Shannon Clark Times Staff Writer
Nine months after the controversial Devlin Technology Park was put on hold, about 100 Bristow residents attended a Nov. 14 town hall meeting to voice concerns and ask questions. “In this case, we are taking an area that was zoned for residential, and (developers) are asking for that to be changed,” said Bruce Faudree, a semi-retired architect who lives in Saybrooke. “Why would (the county) say data center(s) are a logical use?” The project, a controversial plan to allow as many as nine data centers behind several Bristow neighborhoods, will return to the Prince
William Board of Supervisors for a possible vote on Tuesday, Nov. 28. Supervisor Jeanine Lawson, R-Brentsville, held the town hall for residents to ask questions and express concerns or support for the project ahead of the meeting. Since the project was last before the county board in February, applicant Stanley Martin has made several revisions to its rezoning application. The project seeks to transform about 270 acres at the corner of Linton Hall and Devlin roads into a new data center corridor. The area is currently zoned for up to 516 homes but is adjacent to other parcels that were rezoned for data centers in 2021. Lawson, who lost her bid for
county board chair in last Tuesday’s election, said she remains opposed to the development. “The community has made it very clear to me that they do not want data centers on (these) 270 acres,” Lawson said. “They would rather have the houses that are currently approved. And I made it very clear I was going to represent the interests ... of (the) overwhelming, very loud voice of constituents, that (do) not want data centers here.” Lawson was joined at the town hall by Supervisor-elect Tom Gordy, a Republican who will take over her position in January. Gordy currently is See DATA CENTER, page 2
Planning commission advances Digital Gateway
Rosie’s loses its bet on Manassas Park Gaming referendum defeated by 17 points By Cher Muzyk
Vote to deny comes after 23-hour meeting
Times Staff Writer
By Peter Cary, Shannon Clark and Jill Palermo Piedmont Journalism Foundation, Times Staff Writers
After a 22-hour meeting, the Prince William County Planning Commission voted Thursday to recommend denial of all three rezoning applications involved in the Prince William Digital Gateway. But that decision will not keep the project from moving forward to the board of supervisors for a possible vote on Dec. 12—and that was the goal, according to Commissioner Tom Gordy (Brentsville). “We need to be very honest about what happened today, and it was a vote to move this to a lame-duck board who will take it up before the end of the year,” Gordy said in an interview after the vote. Gordy won his bid for Brentsville District supervisor in Tuesday’s election. See DIGITAL GATEWAY, page 4
PHOTO BY SHANNON CLARK
Bruce Faudree, a resident of Saybrooke, asks Supervisor Jeanine Lawson why the county is considering allowing data centers near his and other neighborhoods.
COURTESY
A map of the Prince William Digital Gateway created by piecing together various maps included in the data center developers’ master plan.
Union objects to School Board move to curb comment at meetings, page 3
Manassas Park voters handily rejected a ballot measure that would have allowed a new Rosie’s Gaming Emporium to open in their independent city, a result officials said was likely due to a distaste for gambling as well as possible confusion over ballot wording using the phrase “pari-mutuel” wagering. Churchill Downs Incorporated, which owns Rosie’s, had hoped to open a gaming parlor in the Manassas Park Shopping Center similar to the one in Dumfries. Rosie’s offers slot-like betting machines that are based on historical horse races. Pari-mutuel betting creates a pool of winnings based on the money wagered. Churchill Downs’ promises that Rosie’s would bring jobs and generate much-needed tax revenue were not enough to win over Manassas Park voters, more than 35% of whom cast ballots in the Nov. 7 election. Voters rejected the referendum by a vote of 1,789 to 1,251, a margin of about 17.5%. See ROSIE’S, page 6
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