(The Center Square) – After nearly six hours of debate that stretched to almost midnight, the Hanover County Board of Supervisors voted 4-3 Tuesday night to reject a proposed 427-acre data center campus along Mountain Road near the Henrico County line.
The proposed Mountain Road Technology Park, backed by Denver-based Tract, would have brought five data center buildings, up to three substations and hundreds of megawatts of electric demand to the Chickahominy River corridor in the eastern part of the Virginia county.
The vote followed one of the most emotionally charged public hearings Hanover has experienced in years, with residents invoking Patrick Henry, Paul Revere, the Chickahominy River, Hanover tomatoes and the county’s rural identity while arguing the project would permanently alter the community.
One resident compared the county’s growing data center debate to Paul Revere’s warning during the American Revolution, telling supervisors they should hear the phrase “the data centers are coming” the same way colonists once heard “the British are coming.”
The board first considered motions to approve the rezoning, conditional use permit and special exception requests tied to the project. Those motions failed in 4-3 votes before separate motions to deny the applications ultimately passed by the same margin shortly before the meeting adjourned at 11:44 p.m.
Supervisors Susan Dibble, Michael Herzberg and Ryan Hudson voted in favor of the project. Supervisors Faye Prichard, Danielle Floyd, Jeff Stoneman and Board Chairman Sean Davis voted against it.
The proposal included rezoning roughly 427 acres from agricultural to light industrial use for a campus projected to be built out through 2034.
Project documents showed average water demand of about 600,000 gallons per day, with peak usage projections reaching as high as 2 million gallons daily under certain conditions.
The developer also proposed a series of proffers, including $15 million toward water infrastructure improvements, $6 million tied to parkland preservation and conservation projects, transportation improvements along Route 33 and restrictions on generator use and construction activity.
Supporters argued the project aligned with Hanover’s comprehensive plan and long-term economic development goals.
“This is a land-use case,” Dibble said during lengthy remarks defending the project.
Dibble said she visited other Virginia data center sites herself as part of reviewing the proposal.
“This absolutely is in keeping with the comprehensive plan,” she said. “It has been an economic development zone for years.”
She said the property was already designated for industrial-style development and was not active farmland.
“We’re not bulldozing over a farm to put a data center there,” Dibble said. “That’s just not what we’re doing.”
Herzberg said data centers could help fund schools, fire stations, public safety operations and employee pay while reducing pressure on residential taxpayers.
“We are all driving this up,” Herzberg said, pointing to growing dependence on internet infrastructure, cloud computing, social media and artificial intelligence systems.
He also defended the county’s review process, saying Hanover’s development system “weeds out bad projects and the process makes good projects better.”
Opponents repeatedly questioned whether the county’s water system, roads and electric grid could support the project while also criticizing the broader expansion of data centers across Virginia.
Residents cited concerns involving noise, groundwater, electricity demand, traffic, environmental impacts and what they described as a lack of transparency surrounding the county’s long-term planning for data center development.
Several speakers referenced Loudoun County’s concentration of data centers and warned Hanover could face similar long-term pressures if projects continue moving forward.
Others said the project conflicted with Hanover’s rural identity and historic character.
Hanover County, birthplace of Patrick Henry and home to some of Virginia’s oldest Revolutionary War and Civil War landmarks, has increasingly become part of the broader debate surrounding Virginia’s rapidly expanding data center industry.
The proposed site sits near the Chickahominy River, an area tied to major Civil War campaigns and long associated with Hanover’s agricultural identity.
Residents opposing the project gathered outside the Hanover Government Complex before the meeting carrying signs reading “Grow Tomatoes, Not Data Centers.”
The board’s decision blocks all three applications tied to the proposed Mountain Road campus.
