Smart Growth Protects What We Have!
A panel discussion on Data Centers and the false choice between building them and protecting our environment
Thursday, January 6, 7:00pm Webinar, Register at:
https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZ0vcO6prj8jEtYkw_rQ6iugIykHG8IyEq89
Sponsored by PWCA, Piedmont Environmental Council, National Parks Conservation Association
Landowners on Pageland Lane have filed a data center development proposal to create an industrial corridor through the Rural Crescent, covering more than 2,000 acres next to Manassas National Battlefield Park and Conway Robinson State Forest.
Although the plan appears to focus on data centers, it also opens the door to other industrial uses, such as warehouses, that generate truck traffic and the need for a major new road connecting I-66 with the back side of Dulles Airport (Bi-County Parkway).
This proposal offers a false choice between building data centers to boost our commercial tax base OR protecting our national parks, Rural Crescent, and drinking water supply. We can do both! Land is available in the Data Center Overlay District, which means we can build more data centers in the right spot AND protect our environmental assets.
Protecting the Rural Crescent and our national parks helps us meet climate change goals. These assets encourage tourism, create attractive, desirable communities, protect our water supply, direct infrastructure improvements to underserved areas, and safeguard high quality habitats for wildlife.
