Developer proposes data center near Danville
(Chatham) — A couple of weeks after approving their first-ever set of regulations for data centers, Pittsylvania County is fielding a request for one.
Anchorstone Advisors, LLC is asking the county to change the Future Land Use Designation for over 900 acres on the south side of Route 58 east of the city limits from Medium and High Density Residential and Commercial to Industrial. They’re also asking the property be rezoned to Heavy Industry.
The rezoning and redesignation would allow them to put a Data Center complex on the currently-vacant land. The builders will also need a special use permit.
The planning application filed in Chatham listed nothing on the size of the facility, nor how many people would work there.
Last month, the Pittsylvania County Board of Supervisors adopted the county’s first-ever regulations on data centers. Staff drew up guidelines to make sure data centers could be regulated to protect the health, safety, and welfare of citizens and the County.
The new language allows Data Centers by Special Use Permit only in the M-2 Heavy Industrial District. It also includes a series of regulations that pertain only to data centers.
The Pittsylvania County Planning Commission will make a recommendation on Anchorstone’s proposals at their meeting this week. The Board of Supervisors will take it up later in the month. Ultimately it will be up to the county’s Board of Zoning Appeals to decide if the data center gets a Special Use Permit.