On the Ground Updates — December 2025

Posted on by PEC

Albemarle & Charlottesville

  • After working on an update for four years, the Board of Supervisors adopted the new Albemarle County Comprehensive Plan (AC44) in October. Read more about PEC’s extensive involvement in AC44 in our story on Page here.
  • Albemarle County paused its Data Center Ordinance update, saying that “staff has researched potential regulations to address the environmental impacts of the data centers, but could not create one standard set of requirements that would address every by-right application.” PEC continues to track this ordinance and advocate that all proposed data centers larger than 40,000 square feet go through a Special Use Permit process, which allows for public input on possible adverse impacts from energy-, water- and land-intensive infrastructure development.
  • A long-awaited pedestrian bridge has been completed over U.S. Route 29 near Hydraulic Road. This bridge links major commercial and residential areas on both sides of the arterial route that has been the site of numerous collisions and a recent pedestrian fatality.
  • Planning continues for the Three Notched Trail, a future walk/bike connection between Charlottesville, the Afton Tunnel and beyond. A Dec. 4 public meeting unveiled various potential trail routes, and maps will be available online (engage.albemarle.org) for review and feedback until Jan. 31.
  • For the past three years, PEC monitored three potential major transmission line proposals running through Albemarle, including a wreck-and-rebuild of the existing 230-kilovolt lines running from Gordonsville just northeast of Albemarle through the county and Charlottesville and across the Blue Ridge Mountains to Dooms in Augusta County. Our focus is on identifying the impacts these lines will have to communities and natural resources, and advocating to avoid, minimize and mitigate adverse impacts.

Clarke

  • In October, PEC partnered with Clarke County Public Schools and the Powhatan School to host the 17th Annual Conservation Day. This event invites all fourth graders in Clarke County to a day of outdoor learning focused on conservation, wildlife habitat, ecosystems and the natural world. This year, PEC presented a station on local food production.
  • County staff have presented the newly drafted Rural Lands Plan to the planning commission’s comprehensive plan subcommittee and it is expected to come to the Planning Commission in the next few months. PEC will be offering input on the draft.
  • PEC has held one virtual meeting so far for concerned stakeholders and residents about a forthcoming proposal for a resort on Blue Ridge Mountain Road near the intersection with U.S. Route 50. While the property touches Loudoun, Clarke and Fauquier counties, the application will be filed in Loudoun. PEC will continue to work with community partners to support the residents of all three counties through the public input process for this highly impactful development.

Culpeper

  • In September, the Culpeper County Board of Supervisors adopted a zoning amendment requiring a conditional use permit for all data centers outside its Technology Zone incentive area. While this move will not impact any of the previously approved facilities, it will prevent any new facilities from developing without public input and board approval. PEC strongly supported this decision and has encouraged the board to consider creating a full data center ordinance.
  • In October, the Town of Culpeper passed the Unified Draft Ordinance, effectively overhauling its code of ordinances. This document included language restricting data center development to the areas where data centers have already been approved.
  • Culpeper’s exploding electrical demand, driven by data center development here, has necessitated the expansion of existing transmission line right of ways and the construction of four new substations on the east side of town. The State Corporation Commission held a hearing in October for this project, which Dominion calls the “Culpeper Tech Zone” after the data center tax incentive area it will serve. Members of the community have raised concerns about the project’s impact on the Town of Culpeper and the allocation of the cost of the upgrades that will primarily only serve new data centers.
  • The Town of Culpeper is beginning to work on a Comprehensive Plan Update. Virginia law requires that local governments review their comprehensive plan every five years and update if needed to reflect changes in the community. PEC will work to keep the public informed about ways they can contribute to this important guiding document in the coming year!

Fauquier

  • For the first time in Fauquier County history, the Planning Commission recommended denial of a Dominion Energy substation expansion, which is a required component of the Morrisville to Wishing Star transmission line project. Dominion has now withdrawn its application, and PEC staff continue to track for updates.
  • In another first for the county, the Remington Tech Park data center developer has applied for an onsite power production permit. Construction is about to begin on Remington Tech Park’s first building, and the second is being planned. The developer has filed a rezoning application for a gas turbine power production plant while it awaits power provision by Dominion Energy. PEC is very concerned about this new application, given the air quality impacts of burning fossil fuels and the potential for this project to set a bad precedent.
  • The Planning Commission recommended denial of Eastpoint Energy’s Summersweet Battery Energy Storage System in September. The applicant appealed the decision in November and, in agreement with the Planning Commission, the Board of Supervisors determined the project failed to comply with the Comprehensive Plan.
  • Gigaland data center developers withdrew their application in August, prior to a public hearing by the Board of Supervisors. They plan to begin the application process anew in January 2026. PEC awaits details of the scaled-down project design.
  • The Town of Remington has begun an extensive project to re-write its 1996 Comprehensive Plan. After review and data collection into early 2026, the updated plan will be open for public input, with an intended release in early 2027. PEC is attending meetings of the Comprehensive Plan Committee and contributing to the process.
  • Though PEC and many others opposed the Virginia Department of Transportation’s plan to replace the Interstate 66 bridge over Broad Run with a significantly widened structure that could impact the adjacent Chapman-Beverly Mill, VDOT decided in October to proceed with its original plan over proposed alternatives. PEC and our partners are considering our options for further action.

Greene

  • The Board of Supervisors passed a resolution approving a reduced size for both the White Run Reservoir and the proposed water treatment plant. The county is securing financing through bonds and is in the process of implementing construction. PEC has followed the county’s water supply planning and engaged community members through multiple stages.
  • The Planning Commission and Board of Supervisors have undertaken many work sessions to review and revise the county’s agritourism ordinance that regulates farm wineries, farm breweries, farm distilleries and agricultural event venues. PEC has advocated for an ordinance that avoids or minimizes impacts to rural communities by focusing on the appropriate scale of these facilities as well as associated traffic and noise.

Loudoun

  • PEC is monitoring over a dozen data center applications and addressing related energy impacts in Loudoun. We helped organize a strong response at the two September public hearings for the Golden to Mars transmission line proposal, which drew over 1,600 attendees. Our partners unveiled a feasible underground option in October, and PEC will support that option in public testimony at the Dec. 15 Evidentiary Hearing.
  • PEC has also provided comments for a county-wide Electrical Infrastructure Plan to proactively manage transmission siting. This new county plan is at the Planning Commission stage and will go to the Board of Supervisors Jan. 14.
  • This fall, PEC tracked and provided input for the Western Loudoun Rural Standards and Uses stakeholder sessions, including the Mountainside Overlay District session in September. PEC continues to advocate for stronger protections in the Mountainside Overlay District while also advocating for strong policies to support Loudoun’s agricultural businesses and farms.
  • PEC is still supporting partners and community organizers in opposition to a proposed U.S. Route 15 bypass around Lucketts, which the county has narrowed to two possible routes. Instead, we advocate for traffic calming solutions that preserve rural character as Loudoun has done on Virginia State Route 9 and U.S. Route 50 in the past.
  • We are also calling attention to Loudoun’s groundwater after a September Loudoun County Preservation and Conservation Coalition report documented falling levels and overuse, which emphasizes the need for public education, better monitoring and protective practices.

Madison

  • After a local resident alerted Madison County staff of apparent recent aerial mapping of the existing North Anna-to-Pratts transmission line corridor, Madison County Supervisors sent a letter to Dominion Energy inquiring about any current or future plans to enlarge the existing 115-kilovolt transmission line. Dominion responded that it did not order the mapping flight, but had no other information. PEC is continually monitoring the expansion of energy infrastructure, driven by data center development across the state, and we will watch for and report on any proposals that might impact Madison County.

Orange

  • Thanks to dozens of residents who voiced their concerns, the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality held a public hearing in October on a pending permit to spread PFAS-contaminated biosolids as fertilizer on county farmland. PEC was there, along with over 80 residents, to urge DEQ to test for and address the presence of PFAS in biosolids and give farmers complete information about what’s being spread on their land and the unacceptable level of risk to human health. DEQ will prepare a summary of comments with its response and then hold a second public hearing. A final decision on the permit will follow.
  • After the county and Wilderness Crossing developers tried to throw out a lawsuit about the manner in which the massive rezoning was approved, the Orange County Circuit Court ruled that the legal challenge by the American Battlefield Trust, Central Virginia Battlefields Trust and Friends of Wilderness Battlefield can proceed. We expect the lawsuit to move to trial in the coming months. While not a party to the lawsuit, PEC supported the plaintiffs by filing an amicus brief in the case. The proposed 2,600-acre Wilderness Crossing development is massive: 5,000 car-dependent, single-family homes, 800 acres of commercial use and 732 acres of data centers.

Rappahannock

  • PEC’s Sarah Parmelee presented to the Rappahannock County Planning Commission PEC’s recommendation that the county require a conditional use permit for new or expanded electrical substations. While local governments cannot control new transmission lines, they can require permits for substations, which are often needed as a component of transmission.
  • The Washington Post Office Trail opened in October, providing safe, convenient pedestrian access from the center of town to the new post office on Leggett Lane. Funded with grants from both PEC’s Krebser Fund and the PATH Foundation, the trail includes gravel and boardwalk surfaces across multiple private and public properties.

Working on behalf of the communities of our nine-county region, in 2025 PEC staff members have attended many dozen board of supervisors meetings, planning commission meetings, and public hearings, and hosted or presented at numerous community meetings and town halls. We’ve shared almost 150 email updates that inform and empower people to engage in local land use decisions. We are able to be your eyes and ears on the ground through the generous financial support we receive from those who care about the Virginia Piedmont. Thank you!

This article appeared in the 2025 winter edition of The Piedmont Environmental Council’s member newsletter, The Piedmont View. If you’d like to become a PEC member or renew your membership, please visit pecva.org/join.