A Prince George’s County task force laid out a road map for data center development in Maryland’s second-largest county after months of fierce public backlash over a proposed site that critics argue has been rushed.
In a 462-page report published Monday, the task force makes a case for a regulatory overhaul of the current process for data center development, which bypasses public hearings. Instead, the report argued for full community and legislative oversight of each proposed data center project in the county.
County leaders have been facing intense opposition from residents over a data center project proposed for the abandoned Landover Mall site. After the 87-acre project entered the permitting process, the county board passed legislation to pause data center development pending further review of the potential impacts on surrounding neighborhoods and the environment.
In recent months, some Prince George’s County residents have alleged a lack of transparency among lawmakers over the site at the mall that closed in 2007. They’ve expressed concerns that data centers could be allowed to proliferate in Prince George’s, causing public harm in the majority-Black county. Critics of the industry also decried a 2021 zoning law that permitted data centers to proceed without public hearings.
The report underscored those concerns and worries about the impacts to the regional water supply and the electric power grid caused by an industry that relies heavily on water and electricity to keep its massive computer servers cool. The report also noted that county residents will probably see increased energy costs as a result of those demands, a broader worry in a D.C. metropolitan region that has become a global hub for data centers.
During a late October task force meeting, William F. Fields, a deputy at the Office of the People’s Council ratepayers advocacy group, pointed out that Maryland has allocated $500 million toward a $5 billion regional transmission project underway to keep up with escalating energy demands, a cost that is passed on to ratepayers, according to minutes of that meeting included in the report.
Prince George’s County’s Qualified Data Center Task Force’s 14 recommendations in the report focus on zoning and land use, site and building design, environmental regulations, and potential benefits to the community brought by cultivating an industry that generates millions of dollars in tax revenue for local jurisdictions.
One of the report’s most significant proposals is to require data centers to go through a special use exemption process that would include public meetings on pending projects while allowing the county council to set detailed site qualifications. This could slow down the approval of controversial projects such as the one at the former Landover Mall, which has not gone through such a review.
Such a requirement could be a deterrent to technology companies looking to quickly get their projects approved and operating, said Kelly Schulz, chief executive officer of the Maryland Tech Council, a technology and life science trade association.
Development of any kind already takes a significant amount of time, she said.
Jurisdictions could position themselves to be “looked over” by data center developers if they are faced with too many bureaucratic delays, she said. The result could be an economic loss for a place like Prince George’s County, where a budget deficit looms in coming years, Schulz said.
The report also hardens data center regulations in nonindustrial areas while restricting data center use in “environmentally sensitive areas,” including Priority Preservation Areas listed in the county’s comprehensive Plan 2035, those listed in the county’s Rural Legacy Program and other sites.
Under the report’s proposed guidelines, data center developers would have to submit a plan that provides an in-depth strategy for energy, water use, stormwater management and emissions mitigation.
The task force also suggested that the county amend its noise ordinance to regulate data center testing. This recommendation recognizes the significant noise that data centers can generate, which some residents near those facilities have said has kept them awake at night.
To preserve green space, the report recommends that the county should establish an overlay zone for data center development in industrial portions of Prince George’s County that are home to brownfields and other “underperforming sites.”
Another significant component of the report is a proposal for a community benefits agreement, a legally binding contract between a developer and community groups that outlines specific benefits the development will provide to the local community in exchange for project support. This would establish mandatory baselines for hiring practices while creating room for additional, site-specific project needs in the future, the report says.
County council member Wala Blegay (D-District 6), a data center task force member, told The Washington Post that she appreciates some of the report’s proposals but believes others could’ve used more specificity. Reaching consensus was most important in getting the report over the finish line, Blegay said.
Allowing for more public say, coupled with making more information about data centers available to the community, creates a reasonable path for Prince George’s County to welcome data centers, with some caveats, she said.
Blegay noted that the county does not own the land on which Landover Mall sits. Instead, it belongs to Lerner Enterprises — a reality that limits what lawmakers can dictate for future development if it is zoned for it. She is seeking to undo the 2021 legislation that bypassed council and public input in the new year.
The report brings a sense of fairness to policy surrounding data centers despite the industry’s concerns, Blegay said.
“I do think that those who want to bring a data center recognize that they’re not going to get the fast-track process that they [currently] have,” she said.
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