Breaking news from the Prince William Times: A data center developer just purchased The Merrifield Garden Center, located in an area where these server farms can develop by right under a zoning policy I’ve been pushing to repeal, for $160M. That’s right: a beloved local business and job creator is giving way to a data center.
When even a community institution like Merrifield can’t compete with data center money, that’s a warning sign. This sale illustrates the urgency of my call to retire the Data Center Opportunity Zone Overlay District (DCOZOD).
Projects that are authorized to build by right bypass review by the County’s Planning Department, the Planning Commission, and even the Board of Supervisors. No process, no public input, no enhanced protections or performance standards. This is why I’ve pushed to retire the overlay.
Created in 2016, when data centers were smaller and industry impacts were less understood, and the County was anxious to increase its commercial tax base, the DCOZOD has outlived its usefulness. Quite frankly, some Supervisors at the time also welcomed data centers as a way to block residential and retail development. As far back as 2021, I have been calling for reforms to the Overlay. Now, the current Overlay limits our ability to: control where data centers are built, consider impacts fully, or require community protections and higher building standards.
It’s time to put people over profits. I’ve also called for data centers to be removed from our Economic Development Targeted Industries list, and for staff to create a framework for measuring the highest and best use for land currently slated for this type of development. We cannot risk losing more of our local identity and business diversity, more points of oversight, or more control over how and where growth happens. The Merrifield sale should be a wake-up call — not just for Gainesville, but for every corner of Prince William County.
We must move from fast-track to fair review. We owe it to communities, to our environment, and to the next generation.
