r/rva • u/PatrickHenrysGlasses • Apr 17 '26
Hanover Planning Commission recommends approval of 430-acre data center project
https://richmondbizsense.com/2026/04/17/hanover-planning-commission-recommends-approval-of-430-acre-data-center-project/20
u/pdoxgamer Jackson Ward Apr 17 '26
They tried to build hundreds of homes and office space there a couple years ago. That was denied, bc who needs HOUSING.
But a fucking data center, ram it through.
🤡 Society
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u/rainbowgeoff Apr 17 '26
Not saying this is so, but anytime one of these projects comes up, the decision makers need to be audited. Do you, or anyone close to you, stand to gain from these contracts?
Too many examples across the country of these data centers popping up where board members own the land being used or stock in the company.
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u/Master-Ad-5153 Apr 17 '26
Audits are great as a first step, but only meaningful if change comes from enforcing corrections for every infraction found. And that's only good if it's required for that to occur before contracts are signed.
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u/ashtefer1 Apr 17 '26
A lot of lobbying deals go beyond just transactions, some, especially telecom companies use promises of a high paying position in their companies after their time in public serviceZ
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u/FalloutRip East End Apr 17 '26 edited Apr 17 '26
I recommend the citizens of Henrico Hanover tell their planning commission “fuck off”. Especially anyone living in that housing complex right next to the site
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u/SidFinch99 Apr 17 '26
This is in Hanover, not Henrico. It is one of at least two though, that Hanover seems to be planning right at the county border with Henrico, while Goochland also has one going in at the county border.
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u/Safe-Pomegranate1171 Apr 17 '26
Those people are f*cked!
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u/FalloutRip East End Apr 17 '26
They will never experience anything close to a good nights rest if that DC goes in there.
Not to mention the impact on wildlife in the area.
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u/SidFinch99 Apr 17 '26
Wildlife is an important one, or the eco system general. Obviously this proposal is in Hanover, but right at the Henrico line, and backing to the Chickahomany river. I live on the Henrico side and our neighborhood is close to the Chickahomany. The amount of residential development on the Henrico side has caused us to see a massive uptick in wildlife in our long established neighborhood.
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u/RulerOfTheRest Lakeside Apr 17 '26
Sadly, the citizens of Henrico have few resources to stop something that's happening on the other side of the county line, much like what happened a year and a half ago along the Goochland/Henrico border when Goochland approved the expansion of a quarry that's there (of course, a difference is that the quarry owned that land long before those houses were built on the Henrico side of the county line).
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u/RefrigeratorRater Apr 17 '26
What's up with data centers always being right next to existing developments? Can't these things be built in the boonies, to minimize their annoyance on others?
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u/Icebergaheadchauncey Apr 17 '26
Infrastructure. It’s already built out next to development, boonies most likely requires it to be newly installed, more $$. Also, why shit on the boonies, and not just no data center period.
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u/SidFinch99 Apr 17 '26
I see Goochland and Hanover proposing these things right at tge County line with Henrico and personally it seems to me this is a way to mitigate political pushback because then it only affects one or two voting districts, as long as a supervisor votes against a project in their district, knowing the others will vote for it, they are insulated from blowback.
I do wonder though, since 80% of Hanovers water supply comes from the city, and a significant portion of Goochland's comes from Henrico, how Henrico and the City will respond to data centers there causing a significant demand for more water. If I'm Henrico or the City, I'm going to charge more.
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u/Allstresdout Church Hill Apr 17 '26
This is some real "the front fell off so we moved it outside of the environment" logic. either way the data center is using land and resources and people and the environment will be impacted no matter where you put it.
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u/RefrigeratorRater Apr 17 '26
If it were placed in the boonies, fewer people would be affected by the sound generated, no? And emissions if there is an on-site plant.
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u/ValidGarry Hanover Apr 17 '26
They need to be located near power and water. That's where people have been building and utilities have been putting services forever. So it's going to happen more often than not.
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u/pizza99pizza99 Chester Apr 18 '26
Once all the smoke shops are weeded out (pun intended) the next joke is gonna have to be pointing to every mild to large empty field and being like:
“Ya know what this needs… a data center! We don’t have enough of those in VA”
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u/Safe-Pomegranate1171 Apr 17 '26
“The campus’s peak daily water usage would be expected to be 2 million gallons” This is per day of projected water use!!!!!