Prince William Digital Gateway

CONTACT REPRESENTATIVES | ADDITIONAL RESOURCES | FACEBOOK COMMUNITIES | ARTICLES OF INTEREST

LATEST IMPORTANT EVENTS AND ARTICLES

Recent Articles:

July 17, 2023: Opinion: Wheeler has never been ‘civil’ toward citizens

May 25, 2023: Gainesville's Hillwood Camping Park slated for data centers

May 2, 2023: LETTER: County needs to stop further data center development

April 27, 2023: Digital Gateway data center opposition escalates in Prince William County
April 27, 2023: Manassas battlefield objects to building heights proposed for Digital Gateway data centers

More Articles of Interest >

BREAKING NEWS: Prince William County Supervisor Candland announces resignation

The proposed Prince William Digital Gateway, if approved, will be THE WORLD'S LARGEST INDUSTRIAL DATA CENTER CORRIDOR. We believe this represents the largest threat to our property values and quality of life in Piedmont we've ever faced. We recently met with representatives of the HOA Roundtable of Prince William County and are formally standing together with them and fighting this proposal to protect our interests.

We need your help. Here's how:

Click here to review the latest brief.
Contact our U.S. Senators, U.S. House Representatives and County Supervisors using the information in this brief or below.
Demand an Equal Tax Rate. Data Centers should pay their fair share = the same tax rate as Prince William County homeowners.
Demand Impact Studies - environmental, wetlands, parks and reservoirs.
Tell them that this will do irreversible damage to our environmental and historical resources, wetlands, aquifers, Civil War sites, African American heritage sites, quality of life and home values and that these should be protected rather than being sold to the highest bidder.

U.S. SENATORS, U.S. HOUSE REPRESENTATIVES & COUNTY SUPERVISORS

U.S. Senator Tim Kaine

Email: james_whaley@kaine.senate.gov

tel:(202) 224-4024

Senator Kaine’s comment template: Share Your Opinion | U.S. Senator Tim Kaine (senate.gov)

For subject, type in: Prince William Digital Gateway
For message topic, select from the drop-down menu: Environment & Wildlife Protection
Paste your desired message into the box provided

You can call his Manassas office at (703) 361-3192 or write him at 231 Russell Senate Office Building, Washington, D.C. 20510. You can also e-mail his aides at James_Whaley@kaine.senate.gov and Evan_McWalters@kaine.senate.gov.

U.S. Senator Mark Warner

Email No. 1: Lauren_Marshall@warner.senate.gov

Email No. 2: Bo_Machayo@warner.senate.gov

tel: (202) 224-2023

Senator Warner’s comment template: Contact Page - Mark R. Warner (senate.gov)

For topic, select from the drop-down menu: Environment
For “Please type the subject of your message”, type in: Prince William Digital Gateway
Paste your desired message into the box provided

You can call his Vienna office at (703) 442-0670 or write him at 703 Hart Senate Office Building, Washington, DC 20510. You can also e-mail his aides at Lauren_Marshall@warner.senate.gov and Zack_Golden@warner.senate.gov and Anh_Phan@warner.senate.gov and Elizabeth_Falcone@warner.senate.gov

U.S. Representative Jennifer Wexton

Email: Amelia.Faraco-Hadlock@mail.house.gov

tel: (202) 225-5136

U.S. Representative Rob Wittman

Email: Christopher.Hall@mail.house.gov

tel: (202) 225-4261

Gainesville District Supervisor Pete Candland

Email: gainesville@pwcgov.org

tel:(703) 792-6195

Chair at-Large Ann Wheeler

Email: chair@pwcgov.org

tel:(703) 792-4640

This project would re-zone nearly 2,200 acres of agricultural and environmental resource land adjacent to the Manassas National Battlefield Park to Industrial Zoning and radically transform the landscape and surrounding area, with 28 million square feet of data centers under roof. Data center tax rates are far below those paid in other counties (even with being paid a far higher tax rate than is proposed from Prince William County, Loudoun County had a $60 million budget shortfall because of data centers). This project will do irreparable harm to the region's historical resources and natural resources, resurrect the Bi-county Parkway, which will bring large volumes of interstate truck traffic from I-95 to Loudoun County right through the heart of Prince William County and have a significant negative impact on the area's rural residential character and depress home values. To date, Prince William County has performed NO independent studies of detrimental impacts. For these reasons, at this time the Prince William Digital Gateway is opposed by the National Park Service, and the Virginia Department of Forestry, among others.

Please click here to review an Executive Summary. YOU can make your voice heard and stand with us to protect our property values and quality of life. We urge you to take action NOW.

Sincerely,

Board of Directors

Piedmont Homeowners Association, Inc.

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES:

What can you do?

Make an appearance at the Board of County Supervisors and Planning Commission meetings and voice your opposition during Public Comment time.
Use this link to send customizable e-mails to elected and appointed leaders : Send Emails – The Coalition to Protect Prince William County (protectpwc.org)
Write a Letter to the Editor. Try (Online Services | princewilliamtimes.com) and (Online Services | insidenova.com)
Here’s a link to a Go Fund Me site to help support the fight against the Prince William Digital Gateway: https://gofund.me/73bf9fb1

Here’s a link to a survey on selection criteria for the new County Executive: COUNTY EXECUTIVE RECRUITMENT Community Survey (surveymonkey.com).

Other:

Data: Noise Study

> HOA Roundtable of Prince William County, VA & Independent Homeowners Alliance

https://hoaroundtable.blogspot.com/

https://www.hoaroundtable.org/

Facebook - HOA & Civic Roundtable of PWC

HOA/CMA/Civic leadership forum to protect residential quality of life and property values.

Visit https://www.hoaroundtable.org/

HOA Roundtable Meeting, TBD

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Voting on election day, June 20 is at each resident’s normal polling place.

Here is the link to the PWC voter information:

https://www.pwcvotes.org/

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Recent email Correspondence:

Good evening,

Thank you once again for informing your residents regarding the importance of voting in the February special election. As I know you are aware, an even more important election is fast approaching with the Primary on Tuesday, June 20th.

The future direction of the County, affecting residential quality of life and property value again hangs in the balance. And now, the pain of terrible land use decisions is on full display as the data center complex on Rt. 55 next to the Townhomes/Condos at Village Place goes up. The other two parcels at the intersection of Rt. 55 and Cathaprin Rd will also soon have at least 11 data centers going up. The massive facilities create an unbelievable David and Goliath effect next to the residential community, as well as Tyler Elementary and Pace West Schools. When the cooling tower noise begins this will be a true disaster area. How could such terrible development occur where a Town Center was planned just 2 years ago?

With our industrial-friendly Board, the risk that every sizable parcel of land is vulnerable to data center development is very real. Had they set standards before approving sweeping rezoning applications, much of this would not have happened.

Voting now is more important than ever. All of us need to take a role in the process of ensuring responsible government. I respectfully ask you both to reach out to your residents, once again, to communicate the importance of their vote. Whatever you can do to encourage them to turn out and vote is a huge benefit to all of us who value our homes, neighborhoods, parks and school environments. Truly, it has never been so important. In the 32 years we have lived in PWC, my husband and I have never seen the stakes so high.

Your help to inform your communities made the difference in turnout for the special election and the people spoke loudly!

Attached is the Roundtable non-partisan statement of endorsement for candidates who support residential quality of life and property value, and also commit to integrity and respect for citizens voices in their government. This matters! Please feel free to share it, or any part of it, with your residents.

Please also do not hesitate to let me know of any information I could provide to assist in your efforts to encourage turnout for the primary election. Early voting continues until Saturday at the Haymarket-Gainesville Library (Thurs /Fri 8:30-4;30, Sat 8:30-5) then resumes on election day (Tues, June 20) staring at 6am.

Thank you!

- Kathy

Kathryn Kulick
Vice Chair, Board of Directors
HOA Roundtable of Northern Virginia

And for your reading enjoyment, please check out the latest HOA Roundtable blog post (it’s another good one!):

https://hoaroundtable.blogspot.com

WRITE, WRITE, WRITE!!!

YOU can make a difference!

You, your husband, wife, adult children, friends, neighbors, aunts, uncles, family dog (ok, maybe not him:) all

need to write to the PWC Director of Planning and tell her you OPPOSE the PW Digital Gateway. We need hundreds of letters!

Click HERE for template, email contacts and more...

NOTABLE PAST EVENTS

WEDNESDAY - SEPTEMBER 28 - PLANNING COMMISSION VOTE ON YOUR FUTURE: Show up early - 6:30 sign-up to speak - Meeting starts at 7:00 PM, McCoart Building - 1 County Complex Court, Woodbridge (Here is the agenda - click on all embedded staff reports for each Chapter).

Speak out before their vote! Let them know what you take issue with in the Plan - AND WHY!

If you cannot attend in person, access this link by 5:00 PM TODAY, Sept. 27 to sign up to speak virtually during the meeting.
Tuesday, October 11th at 7:30 PM - Board of County Supervisors public hearing and vote on the Prince William Digital Gateway. - POSTPONED! BREAKING: County delays Prince William Digital Gateway Vote 'to clear up confusion' about the process? Read More About This Decision - CLICK HERE
Tuesday, October 18th: BOCS work session at 2 PM and meeting at 7:30 PM (Agenda). There is public comment time at both sessions.
Tuesday, November 1st: BOCS meetings at 2 and 7:30 PM (expected public hearing and vote on the Prince William Digital Gateway)

SURVEY: Should Prince William County Allow Data Centers within Earshot of Homes & Schools? - Bristow Beat

The Planning Commission hearing and vote on September 14th was a bitter disappointment, especially after such an awful and unsupportable presentation by the Planning Office. There are few remaining opportunities to voice your opinions to the Board of County Supervisors before their vote on October 11th. Tuesday, October 11th at 7:30 PM - Board of County Supervisors public hearing and vote on the Prince William Digital Gateway. Make your plans now for a long night on the 11th.To fight back, the Coalition to Protect Prince William County has set up simple “click to send” e-mail templates

It’s easy:

Once you click on the below link, it will take you to a page with a series of “click to send” e-mail templates.
For each topic listed, click on the “Send E-mail” button
A template will appear which enables you to enter your name, e-mail address, and city
After entering the requested information in each box, click on “Send Email”
Repeat the procedure for all of the other topics

Click on the following link to get started: Use any, or all, of these easy-to-send emails to ask the Planning Commissioners to vote to deny this proposal.

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Other actions you can take:

Sign the recall petitions against Supervisor Pete Candland and Chair Ann Wheelerand volunteer for signature collecting events (below)

ONGOING: Board of County Supervisors The Coalition to Protect Prince William announced it is sponsoring a Recall of Gainesville District Supervisor Pete Candland. The HOA Roundtable of Prince William County supports this effort. A broadly-representative group of Gainesville citizens and leaders read the petition into the official record at Citizen public comment time. This is covered in yesterday’s Prince William Times: https://www.princewilliamtimes.com/news/conservation-group-residents-launch-effort-to-recall-supervisor-pete-candland-over-rural-data-centers/article_9539df24-f75b-11ec-a708-83165ce738c1.html If you are not able to see the article via the link a PDF copy is attached.

While support for this may be viewed by some as pointed and direct, it is neither partisan, nor political. The Roundtable firmly and steadfastly maintains its non-partisan stance and enjoys strong participation and active involvement of Republicans, Democrats and Independents. We are proud of that.

Our support for this recall is in direct response to claims made in the petition of neglect of duty and misuse of office, and that Supervisor Candland has placed his own personal and financial interests above those of the residents of the Gainesville Magisterial District. In doing so he has been recused from discussing and having any involvement with the PW Digital Gateway, the largest and most impactful land use proposal in the County’s history. This prevents him from educating and engaging the very heavily impacted Gainesville community - no emails, no letters, no town halls and NO ability to advocate for his constituents on this incredibly impactful issue. Every other citizen of Prince William County has a representative on the Board of County Supervisors to represent their interests regarding this issue and others related to it. In this case, the most impacted citizens do not. This is disenfranchising.

Supporting a recall for these reasons is not partisan, it is civic.

If you agree with the petition and you are a Gainesville District resident, We ask you to consider assisting in the collection of signatures within your community (if in the Gainesville District). If you wish to add seek or facilitate signatures of others you may do so as long as those signatures are from registered voters in the Gainesville District. Any of you who may be unaffiliated with a formal HOA and wish to sign the petition or collect signatures, please contact me so I can arrange to get the petition to you. Attached are 4 documents related to the petition:

- Recall Pete Candland from the office of Gainesville District Supervisor, Instructions

- Candland Recall Petition finalv7 062922 Page 1-7

- Candland Recall Petition finalv7 062922 exhibits

- Candland Recall Petition Signature sheetv3, 10 signature spaces per sheet, please print as many as needed

Following the instructions is critically important. They are contained among the documents above and also are restated below:

· 2000 signatures (1796 to be exact) are needed – signature collection can start immediately. All of these docs will be posted to the ProtectPWC.org coalition website if more copies are needed

· Only this form with signatures and complete information, date and witness signature at bottom, are valid and can/will be accepted

· Only Gainesville residents to sign for Candland petition

· Confirm resident has not already signed form with different witness – no duplicates

· Individuals must sign for themselves, no signing for someone else

· Manual signatures only, gathered manually – no electronic or online

· Only one witness name/signature per form

· Witness to reflect beginning and ending date(s) of gathering signatures on individual form

· Witness to ensure that Gainesville residents who complete the form reflect legible full names and legible complete addresses. I will be maintaining a spreadsheet of all names and addresses and must be able to read and understand what is written.

· All fields must be completed

· All completed forms to be turned in to Karen Sheehan, please call or email to arrange drop-off: karensheehan@verizon.net, or call: (703) 930-7665

Time is of the essence. Please work to offer opportunities to your communities and others to sign the petition within the next two weeks. Once the required number of signatures have been collected (and we hope to have many more than that) the petition will be submitted to the Circuit Court for consideration by a judge. All signatures will be verified by the Court. Party affiliation has no bearing on this process. If you have questions, please do not hesitate to ask! Thank you!!

- Kathy

Kathryn Kulick

Vice Chair, Board of Directors

HOA Roundtable of Prince William County
Visit our Blog: https://hoaroundtable.blogspot.com
Find us on Facebook: Facebook - HOA & Civic Roundtable of PWC

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> The Coalition to Protect PWC (Prince William County)

Our mission is to defend the broader community against threats to our quality of life. The Coalition to Protect Prince William County is a grassroots movement originally formed in 2014 in response to Dominion Power’s proposal to erect 100-plus-foot-tall transmission towers and a new substation for a single customer — Amazon – that wanted to establish a data center campus in Haymarket, Va. The Coalition is a registered 501(c)(4) corporation. We are a group of volunteers; there are no paid directors. Because we are tax-exempt, all donated funds are dedicated to expenses.

The Wheeler recall petition (complete) and signature form are now posted and accessible on the Coalition website (front page and more)

Wheeler Recall Petition – The Coalition to Protect Prince William County

For more details visit: https://protectpwc.org/

> Coalition to Protect National Parks and the Rural Crescent

We are a coalition of local, regional, and national organizations actively protecting the Rural Crescent and our National Parks in Prince William County from industrial sprawl.

For more details visit: https://www.growsmartpw.org/

> Prince William County Government

Comprehensive Plan Amendment #CPA2021-00004, PW Digital Gateway is a request to create a technology corridor along Pageland Lane for the development of data center uses. The application proposes to utilize existing transmission and fiber optic infrastructure. The corridor, which originally included 27 parcels located on both sides of Pageland Lane in four geographic areas south of Sudley Road and approximately one mile north of Route 29, was expanded to evaluate the entire corridor between Sudley Road and Route 29. Data centers are on the Board’s adopted List of Targeted Industries for New, and Expanding Companies revised on August 4, 2020.

<< Frequently Asked Questions >>

For more details visit: https://www.pwcva.gov/department/planning-office/pw-digital-gateway

To receive automatic updates about general county government information, including Planning Office notifications, road closures, tax reminders, and other community information subscribe to PWC Alerts.

> Prince William Conservation Alliance

PWCA works to establish desirable, equitable, sustainable communities, promote environmental stewardship, and create opportunities for residents to engage in decisions that affect the quality of their lives and the future of their communities.

For more details visit: http://pwconserve.org/

> Gainesville Citizens for Smart Growth

Media Contacts:

Bill Wright, 703-743-5701 (landline), wawright4@comcast.net (to receive email updates)

Roger Yackel, 215-431-9228 (cell)

Modify this template with your name and address at the top and name at the bottom and snail-mail a letter to the address provided, and/or

Copy the text from the attachment into an e-mail template, add your signature block, and e-mail it to: RHorner@pwcgov.org with a copy to: planning@pwcva.gov

FACEBOOK COMMUNITIES

- FORCE – Friends of Rural Crescent Energized

For more details visit: https://www.facebook.com/FriendsoftheRuralCresecentEnergized

- The Rural Crescent is That

For more details visit: https://www.facebook.com/groups/420783129198380

- Coalition to Save Historic Thoroughfare – A Town Under Siege

For more details visit: https://www.facebook.com/Coalition-To-Save-Historic-Thoroughfare-A-Town-Under-Siege-104115108438832/

ARTICLES OF INTEREST

- Prince William County Supervisor Candland announces resignation

- Opponents make last-ditch appeals against the PW Digital Gateway

- Fairfax supervisors urge Prince William board to postpone Digital Gateway rezonings until water study is complete

- LETTER: County leaders are ignoring public input on major land-use decisions | Opinion | princewilliamtimes.com

- Restrictions Placed on New Data Centers in Virginia | GlobeSt

- LETTER: Amazon data center would become a Warrenton landmark | Opinion | fauquier.com

- Ashburn group developing 21 acres near Dumfries | Headlines | insidenova.com

- Prince William County Historical Commission urges denial of ‘digital gateway’ plan | News | princewilliamtimes.com * important read *

- Map_News_Historical Commission vote.png | | princewilliamtimes.com

- Prince William County backs noise study for Amazon data center | Headlines | insidenova.com

- Penzance planning data center in Fairfax County’s Chantilly - DCD (datacenterdynamics.com)

- PW Digital Gateway suit by QTS sheds light on origins of project | Headlines | insidenova.com * important read *

- Data Centers In The Wrong Place: It’s A Bad Deal – ANS Conservation Blog (anshome.org) * important read *

- LETTER: Good journalism alive and well at the Fauquier Times | Opinion | fauquier.com

- After a marathon public hearing, county planning commission narrowly advances 'PW Digital Gateway' | News | princewilliamtimes.com

- Hundreds on hand in Prince William County for initial public hearing on Digital Gateway data center campus | Headlines | insidenova.com

- Shortly after 5 a.m., Prince William County Planning Commission recommends approval for PW Digital Gateway data centers | Headlines | insidenova.com

- Prince William's Digital Gateway to Combine Tech Flex with Park & Open Space - Bristow Beat

- SURVEY: Should Prince William County Allow Data Centers within Earshot of Homes & Schools? County to looks to conduct sound study

- Public hearing scheduled for controversial PW Digital Gateway proposal

- Editorial: Picture this for Prince William

- Green Risks: Prince William and Our Regional Climate Goals

- Chair Wheeler Purchased Hundreds of Thousands of Dollars in Tech, Data Center Companies - Bristow Beat

- Coalition launches recall effort for Prince William County Board Chair Wheeler | WTOP News

- Prince William Residents Launch Effort to Recall Chair Ann Wheeler - Bristow Beat

- Potomac Local: Residents demand Wheeler’s resignation following data center stock dump, call FBI – The Coalition to Protect Prince William County (protectpwc.org)

- Maryland beefs up Chesapeake Bay restoration efforts after falling behind - The Washington Post

- Coalition launches recall effort for Prince William County Board Chair Wheeler | Headlines | insidenova.com

- Recall effort for Chair Ann Wheeler underway over data centers | wusa9.com

- Ratepayer-funded subsidy for Amazon and Dominion? - The Piedmont Environmental Council (pecva.org)

- LETTER: Supervisors seem to be rushing data center decisions. The question is: Why? | Opinion | princewilliamtimes.com

- Vint Hill Disclosure - YouTube (another Ann Wheeler indiscretion)

- Amazon lawsuit in Eastern District of Virginia alleges fraud - The Washington Post

- Voters Seek To Recall PWC Board Chair Accused Of Using Position For Financial Gain | Prince William Daily Voice

- The coalition is moving to recall Prince William County Board Chairman Wheeler - Virginianewstime.com

- IPI must face charges from Northstar in Amazon Virginia land fraud case - DCD (datacenterdynamics.com)

- The Home of the Cloud: Rapid Growth Continues in Northern Virginia (datacenterfrontier.com)

- Developer considering distribution or data center off Balls Ford Road | Headlines | insidenova.com

- Amazon buys 58 acres in Gainesville for nearly $88 million | Headlines | insidenova.com

- NTT to Build New 336MW Campus in Virginia | / Daily News... Data Center (datacenterplanet.com)

- Fauquier, Prince William residents vow to fight Dominion’s transmission line proposal | Business | fauquiernow.com

- LETTER: Report on land needs shows county has enough acres zoned for data centers | Opinion | princewilliamtimes.com

- LETTER: Supervisors’, data center supporters’ conflicts of interest cloud PW Digital Gateway plan | Opinion | princewilliamtimes.com

- Recall effort launched against Prince William Supervisor Pete Candland over controversial data center proposal | Prince William | insidenova.com

- Citizens group announces effort to recall Gainesville Supervisor Pete Candland - Bull Run, VA (bullrunnow.com)

- Conservation group, residents launch effort to recall Supervisor Pete Candland over rural data centers

- InsideNOVA Article: Around Prince William: A glass of clean water is priceless

- Compass files plans for more than 10 million sq ft of data centers in Prince William County - DCD (datacenterdynamics.com)

- NTT Global Data Centers Plans Massive New Campus in Northern Virginia (datacenterfrontier.com)

- NTT plans 336MW campus in Gainesville, Virginia - DCD (datacenterdynamics.com)

- Around Prince William: A glass of clean water is priceless | Headlines | insidenova.com

- Developer promises 'buffer' between neighborhood and new Prince William County data centers - YouTube

- The battle for Northern Virginia: Saturation point for data centers? - DCD (datacenterdynamics.com)

- Amazon buys more than 58 acres in Gainesville, Virginia, for $87m - DCD (datacenterdynamics.com)

- LETTER: Pre-stated ‘findings’ invalidate data center land report | Opinion | princewilliamtimes.com

- LETTER: Noise, pollution from data center construction, commuter buses are choking out Gainesville | Opinion | princewilliamtimes.com

For Informational Purposes Only.
The following is being provided to you as a courtesy to keep you informed of matters potentially affecting the local community. Content is distributed as received in a neutral manner and without regard to political party affiliation, and does not necessarily represent the views of Piedmont Homeowners Association, Inc., or its Board of Directors.

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