Zoning ordinance

continued from page 6 more than that, and during all the time the comp plan and the zoning ordinance are out of compliance.”

Much of that debate has been around the rush to roll out new regulations on data centers as the industry continues to grow in Loudoun. But while supervisors last month voted narrowly to rush new rules on where data centers can be located— possibly at the cost of delaying the rest of the zoning ordinance—they also are still wrestling with how tightly to regulate them.

Randall said the Planning Commission’s proposed rules for data centers, such as property line setbacks and when they can run their generators, are “not really reasonable.”

“We have a bit of a love-hate relationship with the data center community, and I understand their concerns, but we don’t need to have one if we’re going to sabotage it with use standards,” she said.

Department of Planning and Zoning

Assistant Director Dan Galindo agreed. He said planners met with the Data Center Coalition over months or even years to try to find “middle ground” on new regulations.

“I think some of the changes that the commission made beyond that are probably too stringent, especially some of the setbacks and things that really limit either where things can be on the site, or which sites could even fit them at all,” he said.

Supervisors plan to take up work on the zoning ordinance in September and October. n