This text was taken from an email alert sent out on July 9, 2026. Sign up for email alerts →
Dear Supporter,
Summer is off to a busy, and incredibly hot, start in Orange County! Read on to learn more about zoning changes related to data centers and agriculture, a hearing on PFAS-contaminated biosolids, and impacts to historic resources by the proposed Joshua Falls-Yeat transmission line.
This work and our success in it rests on your consistent action, and on generous financial support. Become a PEC Member today →
Cattle Farm Permanently Protected by PEC, Family
We’ve permanently protected a 94-acre cattle farm in Orange County! Located just a couple miles from the Ruckersville’s growth boundary, this easement helps maintain the agricultural nature of Orange County. And with nearly all of the property classified as “Prime Farmland” or “Farmland of Statewide Importance,” this is a place farming should continue.
The forest-cover, fields and streams also provide habitat for wildlife and plant species. The waterway ultimately flows past Albemarle County’s Preddy Creek Park and into the City of Charlottesville’s drinking water supply, so the public will continue to benefit from private land conservation like this for generations to come.
Data Center Zoning Changes in County and Town
In April, the Orange County Board of Supervisors removed data centers as a by-right use from the Industrial Zoning District. Now any future data center application, in any zoning district in the county (with the possible exception of Wilderness Crossing), would need to seek a rezoning to the Technology Zoning District and obtain a special use permit.
Similarly, the Orange Town Council removed data centers as a by-right use within the town earlier this year. It also updated its zoning ordinance definition of “data center” to better describe modern, hyperscale data centers.
Unfortunately, however, the Council did not distinguish between on-site emergency back up power generation and on-site primary power generation, though council members publicly stated their intent to address that elsewhere within the zoning ordinance soon.
The Town Council will continue discussions on a data center policy document to guide future development. We have urged the Town Council to include commitments that:
- council members will not, individually or as a body, enter into confidentiality agreements with data center developers, and
- confidentiality agreements will not be used to hide information critical to evaluating impacts such as water usage, emissions and energy needs.
PEC will continue to advocate that:
- data centers over 40,000 square feet (about the size of the Food Lion) should not be allowed anywhere in the town, and
- Town Council adopt language to prevent construction of an onsite gas power plant without adequate review and a special use permit.
Towns are places that are meant to be pedestrian-oriented, human-scaled places for people to live, work, and play — the opposite of what a hyperscale data center would bring. While no data centers are currently proposed in the Town or Orange County, PEC closely monitors land use applications and will alert you should a data center be proposed.
Agricultural Zoning Discussion Continues July 14
After an eight-month pause, the Board of Supervisors will resume its work updating the Agricultural Zoning District at a public work session this Tuesday, July 14. While there will be no opportunity to speak at this work session, the Board will give an update about its thinking about possible changes to the zoning district. The conversion of farm and timber land into residential development continues at a quickening pace, so changes are needed. More from PEC on this soon.
Agricultural Zoning Work Session
Tuesday, July 14 | 3:30 p.m.
11282 Government Center Drive, Orange, Va
PFAS-Contaminated Biosolids Continue to Spread
After a seven-month pause, the renewal request from Synagro Central, LLC to apply PFAS-contaminated biosolids on Orange County farmland has lurched forward again.
A second and final public hearing was held June 16, but was limited to comments concerning the Department of Environmental Quality’s (DEQ) Summary of Comments.
Per DEQ regulations, no new information was accepted at the hearing. Only individuals who previously commented, either at the October 2025 public hearing or in writing during the applicable public comment periods, were allowed to speak.
PEC and the chair of the Orange County Board of Supervisors both spoke. DEQ’s final permitting decision is now pending. PEC remains focused on this issue in nearby Albemarle County, too, as the first public hearing on biosolids comes up.
Joshua Falls-Yeat Transmission Line Update
As you saw in our last Joshua Falls-Yeat transmission line alert, Valley Link has made changes to the proposed routes of the 115-mile project. In response, and at the direction of the Orange County Board of Supervisors, the Planning Commission is amending the county’s comprehensive plan to ensure:
- sensitive resources and areas of the county are identified and mapped;
- the comprehensive plan addresses potential impacts from transmission line projects; and
- the comprehensive plan articulates the county’s preferred siting, approval and engagement processes
In other news, Valley Link broke a commitment to attend the May 26 Board of Supervisors meeting; Valley Link hosted a June 15 community meeting; Orange County filed comments about the project with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC); and Orange County created a webpage to house information on the project.
Additionally, in June, the corridor was named to Preservation Virginia’s 2026 list of Virginia’s Most Endangered Historic Places after PEC and American Battlefield Trust made the nomination with eight other partners.
At least nine historic districts and numerous other historic resources (both listed and eligible) within the corridor and/or its viewshed are likely to be impacted, despite Valley Link’s claim that no substantive federal-level review for impacts to environmental, cultural or historic resources is needed.
Feel free to email or call me at the information below. I’m personally available if you have any questions or comments.
Please forward this email to anyone interested in staying up to date in Orange; they can sign up for updates here.
Thank you,
Don McCown
Senior Land Use Field Representative, Orange & Madison counties
[email protected]
(434) 977-2033 x7047
P.S. Join us Friday evening, July 24 and Saturday morning, July 25 for the Generation NEXT workshop in Warrenton, Va. This workshop provides free legal guidance and landowner stories about successful estate planning steps and strategies they have used. Speakers include legal and financial experts experienced in estate planning as well as natural resource professionals and landowners. If you are succession planning, we highly recommend you attend!