Updated: Frederick County executive, council to introduce overlay zone for data centers

Yahoo

07-05-2025

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Yahoo is using AI to generate takeaways from this article. This means the info may not always match what's in the article. Reporting mistakes helps us improve the experience.
Yahoo is using AI to generate takeaways from this article. This means the info may not always match what's in the article. Reporting mistakes helps us improve the experience. Generate Key Takeaways
Frederick County Executive Jessica Fitzwater and all seven members of the Frederick County Council on Tuesday announced their intent to limit data center development to the area around the former Alcoa Eastalco Works site near Adamstown.
The bipartisan bill would create an overlay zone for data centers that would consist of no more than 1% of Frederick County's total land, or approximately 4,000 acres.
When applied, overlay zones add to or modify the regulations attached to a parcel's underlying zone without changing the underlying zone itself.
The former Alcoa Eastalco site is approximately 2,200 acres, leaving the door open for other nearby parcels to be included in the overlay zone.
After the overlay zone is created through legislation, the County Council will have to separately approve a map of the overlay zone.
Once the map is approved, owners of properties that are within the overlay zone, but not zoned limited or general industrial, would have to apply for rezoning before data center development could occur on their land.
All applications for zoning map amendments are reviewed by the Frederick County Planning Commission and voted on by the Frederick County Council.
"Our residents have been clear that they will accept a reasonable amount of data center development, but they will not tolerate the sprawl that occurred in Northern Virginia," Fitzwater, a Democrat, said during a press conference on Tuesday.
"The compromise that we are announcing will limit data center development to a narrow slice of the county where it is already occurring, and it will give the County Council powerful tools to prevent future sprawl," she continued.
The announcement on Tuesday came as the County Council prepared for a third reading and potential final vote on a bill to establish new sitting and design criteria for data centers.
That bill is sponsored by Council President Brad Young and Council Member Renee Knapp, who are both Democrats.
Members of the County Council have been at odds for months about how best to regulate data center development in Frederick County.
In September 2024, Fitzwater announced that her administration would introduce to the council a bill to establish a data center floating zone.
Floating zones are districts that, when applied, replace the underlying zoning of a specific parcel of land.
In its final report, Fitzwater's data center work group recommended the creation of a floating zone that would have to be applied by the County Council over qualified parcels before data centers could be developed there.
Fitzwater ultimately pulled the floating zone bill after previously expressing concerns that the zone could pit communities against each other and politicize the approval process for data centers.
After Fitzwater pulled her floating zone bill, Council Member Steve McKay, a Republican, and Council Member Jerry Donald, a Democrat, drafted their own version — but Young declined to put it on the agenda before the council had finished its work on his and Knapp's bill.
"I've been a strong advocate to ensure that the council be the final vote ... in terms of deciding where and where we do not build data centers," McKay said during the press conference on Tuesday. "This new data center overlay approach satisfies that requirement."
Council Member Renee Knapp, who co-chaired Fitzwater's data centers work group, said during the press conference on Tuesday that the proposed zoning bill complements her and Young's data center siting and design bill.
Knapp said the zoning bill will also address "a key workgroup recommendation and community concern" — establishing an upper limit on data center development in Frederick County based on total facility square footage, total land acreage, energy usage or another metric.
In an interview after the press conference on Tuesday, Fitzwater said she does not have the same concerns about the proposed overlay zone as she did about the floating zone.
"With an overlay, it can't float," Fitzwater said. "We're putting it in a specific place because we feel that that's where that type of development goes."
The proposed overlay zone for data centers marks the first time in the history of charter government that all seven members of the Frederick County Council have co-sponsored a measure, Fitzwater said.
It is not clear exactly when the proposed overlay zone will come before the County Council, but Fitzwater said it is likely to happen "pretty soon."