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Prince William Circuit Court Judge Kimberly Irving ruled Thursday in favor of Oak Valley homeowners in their appeal of the PW Digital Gateway data center rezoning.
The final implications of the case — which seeks to halt the 22-million-square-foot data center campus near Gainesville — were not immediately clear. An appeal is likely.
But Irving’s ruling, for now, effectively voids plans for the project.
The 12 plaintiffs — all Oak Valley neighborhood residents — argued two points: whether the timing of the county’s Digital Gateway public hearing advertisements in the Washington Post complied with Virginia statute or county ordinance for proper notice; and whether materials relevant to the application were made available to the public at the time of the initial ad.
Defendants in case were the Prince William Board of County Supervisors and two developers involved with Digital Gateway, H&H Capital Acquisitions and GW Acquisition Co.
At full buildout, the Digital Gateway, which was approved by the Prince William Board of County Supervisors in December 2023, would be the largest data center corridor in the world, with 37 data centers spread out across over 2,100 acres in western Prince William, near Manassas National Battlefield.
Judge Irving wrote in her ruling: “This Court finds that the advertised notice provided by the County did not comply with either the State or County code. The defects in the advertised notice were solely caused by the County, not the Washington Post.”
Mac Haddow, a lead plaintiff in the case, hailed the judge’s ruling Thursday afternoon.
“This is a victory for every resident of Prince William County who wants to have transparent and accountable government,” Haddow told InsideNoVa. “Because nothing that happened in this case by the county, the Board of Supervisors, led then by Chair [Ann] Wheeler, was done correctly.”
State Del. Josh Thomas, a western Prince William lawmaker who has sought more oversight of data center development, called it a “historic day for Prince William County.”
“I am proud of my constituents who never stopped fighting to protect our community from locating one of the largest data center campuses in the world right next to homes, parks and historic sites,” Thomas said in a prepared statement. “This victory belongs to everyone who ever showed up to a meeting, held a sign at a protest, or contacted their representatives on this issue – your voices mattered, and they made all the difference. Today’s win underscores the power of everyday people coming together to defend the community.”
