© 2025 THE COOL DOWN COMPANY. All Rights Reserved. Do not sell or share my personal information. Reach us at hello@thecooldown.com.
“If the law gives us a path to say ‘no’, I think we all should know about it.”
Photo Credit: iStock
In Virginia, two Hampton Roads cities, Chesapeake and Virginia Beach, are putting the brakes on the fast-growing data center industry amid concerns over land use, noise, water demand, and rising energy costs.
Chesapeake voted to stop allowing data centers by-right use in certain areas, while Virginia Beach approved a 12-month pause on permits for new facilities as it works on rules for the industry.
Local governments in southeast Virginia are taking a new approach to large digital infrastructure projects as they decide how much room they want to make for them, according to Virginia Business.
In Virginia Beach, the moratorium temporarily halts permits for data centers as a primary use until either a final ordinance is adopted or the 12-month window expires. In Chesapeake, developers can no longer move ahead automatically in certain zones and must instead win City Council approval one project at a time.
A basic problem has complicated Virginia Beach’s effort to write regulations: City officials have said there’s no standard industry definition for what qualifies as a data center. 
Zoning administrator Hannah Sabo told the Planning Commission, “One of the kinds of roadblocks or issues we’re running into is there’s no industry standard definition for a data center.”
💡These best-sellers from Quince deliver affordable, sustainable luxury for all
Starting at $50
Starting at $99
Starting at $60
Starting at $80
Vice Mayor Rosemary Wilson said the city wants oversight before those facilities can move into industrially zoned areas.
“In places that are zoned industrial, they could go in there by-right, and you know we don’t want that to happen to be able to just go in by-right without us having any say-so on it,” Wilson said, per Virginia Business.
As land for new projects becomes harder to find elsewhere in Virginia, data center development has spread beyond Loudoun County’s “data center alley,” the world’s largest concentration of data centers.
Those facilities can place major demands on electric infrastructure, and in Virginia, the effects are especially visible on the PJM grid, where capacity costs tied to growing power demand are already showing up on household utility bills.
In Chesapeake, opposition has centered on concerns over noise, shrinking rural land, electricity use, and environmental impacts, as Virginia Business reported. 
“Look, it’s not red or blue,” resident David Williams said at a council meeting. “It’s just people.”
Officials said potential data center sites also sat close to residential areas. As Virginia Business reported, more than 27,000 residentially zoned parcels were within 500 feet of land where a data center could have been developed.
Chesapeake’s action did more than end by-right development. As Virginia Business reported, it also confined data centers to industrial districts and has prevented them from connecting to groundwater. The city also asked Virginia Attorney General Jay Jones to weigh in on whether state law leaves any route to ban data centers entirely.
Across Virginia, other localities are also weighing stricter data center rules. After successfully pushing to remove the Fentress Airfield Overlay district from the ordinance, councilwoman Amanda Newins said the city needs more time to understand the industry’s full impact.
“I personally believe that we have to put your quality of life above the interests of an industry that is going to place an enormous demand on our water, electricity, our land, our infrastructure, while fundamentally changing the character of the communities around it,” she said.
During the moratorium, Virginia Beach plans to keep gathering input from industry representatives and other stakeholders while it studies setbacks, buffers, noise, and other standards.
Newins said residents deserve a definitive legal answer before city leaders say a ban cannot be done: “If the law gives us a path to say ‘no’, I think we all should know about it.”
Get TCD’s free newsletters for easy tips, smart advice, and a chance to earn $5,000 toward home upgrades. To see more stories like this one, change your Google preferences here.
© 2025 THE COOL DOWN COMPANY. All Rights Reserved. Do not sell or share my personal information. Reach us at hello@thecooldown.com.

source