Chairman Adams says he’d vote ‘no’ on proposed third Amazon data center campus in Louisa County

LOUISA COUNTY, Va. (WVIR) - Louisa County could allow Amazon Web Services to build a third data center campus, but not everyone is on board.

Significant pushback at Thursday, June 26, evening’s town hall at Louisa County High School has already led one supervisor to say he’d vote “no” on the proposal.

With back-and-forth from the audience, the night reflected the broader trend of growing tension over data center construction in Virginia, which is home to more of these giant warehouses than any other place in the world.

“This is one of the biggest decisions Louisa County has in front of it,” said Duane Adams, Chairman of the Louisa County Board of Supervisors who represents the Mineral District.

Adams began the meeting by telling the crowd he was leaning towards striking Amazon’s application down; by the end, he said his vote of opposition was solidified.

“I don’t see a reason for us to rush,” Adams said. “I think we need to be thoughtful, I think we need to be deliberate, and I think we need to consider all of the impacts.”

The proposed third Amazon data center campus would be built in Louisa’s Mineral District, with 7.2 million square feet of buildings and 1,370 acres of land surrounding Northeast Creek Reservoir.

This would be Amazon’s third data center campus in Louisa and the County’s fourth overall. Earlier this week, the Board of Supervisors announced the sale of Shannon Hill Regional Business Park off I-64 to EdgeCore Digital Infrastructure, a data center developer and operator.

The message among the roughly 20 people who spoke at Thursday’s town hall was fairly clear: Louisa should wait to see how the first few data centers work out before committing to another.

“We don’t actually know how it’s going to affect us,” said Stephanie Slewka, who lives in Louisa. “I don’t feel that all of the information has been given to the County, and therefore passed onto the residents.”

With concerns ranging from water use, to energy, to traffic, to too many tax exemptions for Amazon, the town hall became heated at times, with audience members demanding answers.

Slewka says that, when she looks to the existing data centers in Northern Virginia, she does not think the potential pros outweigh the potential cons.

“It hasn’t been a net positive,” Slewka said.

Savannah Walker, who designs and builds data centers herself, says she’s concerned about the noise from generators.

Amazon’s application states that the campus would include a number of vegetative buffers, with the buildings themselves expected to be at least 850 feet from the nearest house, though Louisa residents at the town hall seemed skeptical.

“The noise is going to be the big thing,” Walker said. “It’s not a rinky-dink thing we use for our house, it’s a lot bigger.”

Multiple residents also voiced concerns over road congestion.

“When the school system is in, it’s almost impossible right now to get to Lousia if you had to,” said David Rogers, who is running directly against Adams in the Mineral District race. “Now, think of what’s going to happen with all of those trucks building the data centers.”

Not everyone was opposed. Data centers are often lauded for driving economic development to rural counties, something Louisa resident Robert Babyok says is important to him.

“When you consider all the positives as far as the huge income surge to our County...not only more jobs...but also, it gives us an opportunity to reduce or eliminate taxes,” Babyok said.

Adams agrees with the economic upside, saying he still supports the construction of the other two Amazon campuses that will be up in running in Louisa County within the next two years.

“The revenue that they generate, and the jobs will allow this County to pay off debt, to continue to give tax cuts to our citizens, to fund our capital improvement projects in cash,” Adams said. “Those are a net positive.”

According to the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission’s comprehensive report on data centers, these campuses can generate “substantial” local tax revenue for localities, though their economic benefits are typically more salient in the short-term.

Adams told 29News he does not know when the Board of Supervisors will come to a vote on the third Amazon campus.

“I want it to move through the process as quickly as possible because I think the residents of Louisa County deserve to have an answer as quickly as possible,” Adams said.

Walker says it all comes down to the board as a whole.

“He might say he’s going to vote no, and he might vote no, but there’s still other people on the board that are going to override him” Walker said, “so just because he says no doesn’t mean it’s not going to happen.”

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