Dear {{FirstName or “Supporter”}},
I’m writing to ask that you take immediate action on a critical bill coming up for a vote in the General Assembly that would limit local governments’ power to manage growth and development in their area, including large projects like data centers.
House Bill 1122 (Del. David Reid, District 28 – Loudoun) recently passed out of subcommittee and faces a full vote this Friday, Feb. 13, at 9 a.m. in the House Counties, Cities and Towns committee.
We urgently need your help opposing this bill. You can use our form letter to send an email of opposition to your delegate.
Why HB1122 is Dangerous
“Vested rights,” a core concept in the bill, is a complex legal term, but the impact of this bill is simple: it would exempt old development approvals from having to comply with current zoning, even when updated zoning increases environmental protections for residents and the environment. Most concerningly, this applies to massive commercial projects like data centers.
As currently drafted, HB1122 would:
- Dramatically increase the “vested rights” of developers and potentially impose onerous and punitive costs on local governments that make good faith efforts to update zoning, stormwater management or other land use regulations.
- Dramatically reduce local authority and control over the future by guaranteeing that every single development approval today and in the future can ignore later changes to a county’s comprehensive plan and zoning or other standards that improve community welfare.
For example, localities that have already approved too many data centers, or failed to regulate onsite fossil-fuel generation, would not be able to revisit those decisions, even if the project hasn’t been built yet or if new elected officials come into office. While supporters of HB1122 are emphasizing how this benefits residential projects, what they aren’t talking about is that the bill would also apply to data centers and other commercial uses. - Benefit developers, not localities. Permission to ignore changing community needs would prioritize private profit over the community.
- Create more risk for taxpayers. It would impose severe penalties on local governments that make good faith efforts to apply meaningful new standards. Local governments (and hence taxpayers) could be liable for attorneys’ fees, and other costs and damages if those changes are deemed by a court as not meaningful.
Vested rights are an enormously complicated and frequently litigated issue, and this bill will tilt the playing field dramatically in favor of developers and against the public interest.
This bill effectively strips the power of communities to alter their plans for their future, which is particularly concerning as communities learn and try to offset the impacts of data center development. If passed, the law would apply to any current or future approved project in our state, no matter how old, be it data centers, housing or retail. *This does not apply to projects that are already built, as they are already protected from having to meet many updated land-use regulations.
Please write your delegate and if you have the time, call other delegates in the Counties, Cities, and Town Committee today and ask them to oppose HB1122 when it comes to a vote on Friday.
Thank you for continuing to engage on our all of our advocacy efforts. We try to balance the number of emails we send out with the need to keep you informed on a variety of topics. This is especially challenging during the General Assembly, so we appreciate you wading through our various email alerts.
Sincerely,
John McCarthy
Senior Advisor & Director of Strategic Partnerships
[email protected]
