(Chatham) — After two days of trying to sell the idea to the neighbors, a developer’s plans for a large power plant and data center campus in Pittsylvania County appear to be dead in the water. This, after county leaders told them they were not interested.
The Pittsylvania County Board of Supervisors met in closed session Wednesday in Chatham. Showcase News is told that all seven members indicated they would NOT support Balico’s plans.
Banister Supervisor Robert Tucker, in whose district the project would have been built, told a gathering of community members at Mill Creek Baptist Church Wednesday that he and the County’s economic development director contacted Balico CEO Irfan Ali Wednesday afternoon and told him the board was unanimously opposed to the plan.
A Balico spokesperson says they have not yet pulled their application requesting a rezoning of 47 parcels of land. But they indicated they might return with a pared-down request. Right now, the issue is still in the county’s Planning Page on their website. It would be debated by the Pittsylvania County Planning Commission at their November meeting. They would make a recommendation to the Board of Supervisors to vote on in December.
But Tucker says he and other board members are steadfast in their opposition. “I do not support it. And the people in that area who have opposed it need time to heal,” Tucker said.
Tunstall District Supervisor Vic Ingram announced his opposition to the proposal earlier this week on his Facebook page. “I have received many calls and texts from some very kind and gracious citizens,” Ingram said. “I cannot support this project regardless of the potential tax revenue. The loss is not worth the gain. I’m so sorry for the stress and anxiety that this matter has caused.”
Balico held public sessions Monday and Tuesday evening, meeting with neighbors and unveiling renderings of the proposed campus. The plan called for a 350-megawatt gas-fired power plant fueled by the nearby Mountain Valley Pipeline. That would have supplied power to data centers that would have been built on over 2,200 acres of land in the Chalk Level community. Ali says it would have meant billions of dollars in local tax revenues for the lifetime of the project.
Photo courtesy Balico, LLC
