Data center regulations in Virginia evolved further with the veto session of the 2025 Legislative Session, March 24, 2025. Gov. Glenn Youngkin elected to not sign HB 1601/SB 1449 — which would require data center site...more
At its March 18, 2025, business meeting, the Loudoun County Board of Supervisors voted 7-2 to approve a Zoning Ordinance amendment making data centers a special exception use in zoning districts in which they were previously...more
House Bill 1601/Senate Bill 1449 – Requires Virginia localities to have any application for a rezoning, special exception, or special use permit from a High Energy Use Facility (HEUF) (which is defined as a facility that will...more
Understanding the history of data centers in Virginia provides insight into how the General Assembly may manage the industry going forward, says McGuireWoods Consulting senior vice president Preston Bryant in an article...more
The Virginia Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission (JLARC) released its report on data centers in Virginia on Dec. 9, 2024. During the 2024 Virginia General Assembly session, numerous bills were put forward that could...more
On Sept. 10, 2024, the Fairfax County, Virginia Board of Supervisors approved a zoning ordinance amendment that creates new restrictions for data centers. The amended ordinance permits by-right data center development in...more
Demand for data center development opportunities remains at unprecedented levels across Virginia. But how the industry is regulated by Virginia’s diverse cities and counties is not uniform....more
Loudoun County, Va., joins a growing number of northern Virginia jurisdictions taking affirmative steps to restrict data center development. As the first part of a two-phase process, the board of supervisors voted to advance...more
On March 19, 2024, the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors directed Department of Planning and Development staff to update the county zoning ordinance with additional regulatory guidance for data center development. It is...more
Prince William County in Virginia has launched a Comprehensive Plan Amendment (CPAM) initiative to incorporate recommendations from the Community Energy and Sustainability Master Plan into its comprehensive plan. The CPAM...more
On May 21, 2024, the Virginia Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission (JLARC) held an initial public discussion to consider opportunities, issues and the evolution of possible incentives and regulations pertaining to...more
Fairfax County, Virginia, recently released draft zoning ordinance text amendments to provide new regulations for data centers within the county. A link to the draft zoning ordinance amendments may be found here....more
On March 19, 2024, the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors directed Department of Planning and Development staff to update the county zoning ordinance with additional regulatory guidance for data center development. It is...more
Over the past year, local governments in Northern Virginia — including Fairfax County, Fauquier County, Caroline County and Spotsylvania County — have taken steps to enact, or begin the process of enacting, new and generally...more
Fairfax County, Virginia, recently released updated recommendations for data center development in the county, including potential changes to the comprehensive plan and zoning ordinance standards for data center development....more
The Fauquier County Board of Supervisors adopted guidelines to control new data center developments on Dec. 14, 2023. The policy is the product of collaboration between the county’s planning staff and a committee that met in...more
The growing demand for data center space in Virginia increasingly has led the industry to locations outside northern Virginia. As a result, many central Virginia jurisdictions recently revised their planning and zoning...more
Like many Virginia jurisdictions, Fairfax County is reevaluating how it regulates data centers. As part of the zMOD readoption, the Board of Supervisors authorized an evaluation of Fairfax County’s comprehensive plan and...more
On July 11, 2023, the Spotsylvania County Board of Supervisors approved amendments to the county’s comprehensive plan to incorporate long-term planning goals for data center uses....more
As highlighted in McGuireWoods’ May 10, 2023, alert, Fairfax County is undertaking a review of its data center regulations. On July 18, 2023, the Fairfax County Land Use Policy Committee added data centers to the FY 2024...more
Changes are coming to Fairfax and Loudoun counties’ public hearing processes after state-level changes to notice requirements became effective on July 1, 2023.
The changes impact land use cases when the planning...more
On June 20, 2023, the Loudoun County Board of Supervisors voted 5-4 to allocate $90,000 and to direct staff to start the process to amend the comprehensive plan and maps to reflect direction from earlier this year related...more
As part of Fairfax County’s re-adoption of zMod, the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors authorized a study of its data center regulations....more
On April 12, 2023, the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) announced it has officially withdrawn a proposal for a variance to a state law regarding the use of diesel generators as backup power for data centers...more
On March 23, 2023, the Supreme Court of Virginia invalidated the Fairfax County, Virginia, Zoning Ordinance commonly known as z-Mod.
The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors adopted z-Mod in March 2021, but the state...more