The Loudoun County Board of Supervisors voted Tuesday to draft a resolution to pause data center applications for a year to allow regulations to be enacted.
The board voted 7-1-1 to draft the resolution, with Leesburg District Supervisor Kristen Umstattd voting against and Catoctin District Supervisor Caleb Kershner abstaining, according to WRC-TV.
Algonkian District Supervisor Juli Briskman said that “it is time to take a breath, take a step back, make sure we have all the regulations in place,” according to WUSA-TV.
One supervisor is looking to pass regulations on data center noise and on the distance between the centers and residential areas.
“I’m going to want to see 500 feet as a standard from the nearest residents. I’m going to want to see 45 [decibel] max noise at the descending property line. I’m going to want to see a complete elimination of infrasound low tunnel hum,” Ashburn District Supervisor Michael Turner said, according to WDVM-TV.
A vote to approve the draft resolution is slated for Oct. 20, with a retroactive effective date of Sept. 15.
Northern Virginia’s Loudoun County is an epicenter of data center development, hosting 233 centers in the largest concentration of data centers worldwide. Tax revenue from data centers accounted for $1.2 billion, 39% of the county budget for fiscal 2026, according to the county website.
The price of Loudoun County land parcels zoned for data centers can vary from $2 million to $3 million per acre, according to a county-funded report from the nonprofit Urban Institute.
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