Author, F. A. Dowdy, Date Published January 14, 2025

Summary:
In September 2023, the Town Council of Culpeper, Virginia approved rezoning two tracts of land adjacent to the National Cemetery to allow the construction of six enormous data centers. The re-zoning was not anticipated in the Town’s Comprehensive Plan and caught many residents by surprise. Public records, however, show that the rezoning was the culmination of more than a year’s effort to bring data center dollars to the historic town. The drivers behind the decision remain opaque, but emails released under FOIA reveal that town officials actively promoted the interests of the data center developers, even taking steps to quash potentially dissenting views. The threat of data center development to the National Cemetery has generated considerable public opposition and given rise to the “Coalition to Save Culpeper.” Despite that opposition, the Town Council has, so far, remained remarkably complaisant in support of the project.
Background:
In 1867, a National Cemetery was established in Culpeper, Virginia to reinter the remains of 1,321 Union soldiers who had fallen at the various Civil War battles surrounding the town. For more than 150 years, the cemetery has served as a peaceful final resting place for veterans and their family members, and currently contains more than 14,000 graves.
That tranquility became threatened, however, on September 12, 2023, when the Culpeper Town Council approved re-zoning two tracts of land to permit the construction of six enormous data centers. The proposed data centers, up to 65 feet tall and totaling 2.2 million square feet, are proposed to be built on Copper Ridge, which is high ground adjacent to the cemetery and overlooking the historic town.
The re-zoning caught many residents by surprise, but nevertheless generated vigorous opposition over concerns about the project’s impact on noise and the viewscape, and from organizations concerned about its impact on the National Cemetery, including the American Legion, VFW, and the National Parks Conservation Association.[1] Despite their objections, the measure was approved unanimously by the Town Council.[2]
The Council’s continuing support for datacenter development has given rise to a local group, the Coalition to Save Culpeper, to oppose the development of data centers adjacent to the town. The Coalition has used Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests and public records to better understand how the National Cemetery has come to be threatened by data center development. This is a preliminary picture of the process. Much remains to be discovered, however.
Money
Money is the key driver of the process. For local officials, data centers offer the potential for enormous property tax revenue without commensurate demand on local services. They don’t create a lot of traffic once built, and don’t employ many people who need schools for their children. According to a study provided for the McDevitt Drive Technology Zone (aka Culpeper Technology Campus), tax revenue to the Town of Culpeper could ultimately reach $22-28 million/year[3] – approximately equal to the town’s current general fund revenue ($26 million/year).[4] However, in response to a FOIA request, the Town advises that it has no other estimates or forecasts of potential tax revenues from Copper Ridge or other projects, nor plans for what it would do with those revenues.
The potential for crazy profits is also driving a frenzy among investors who buy land with the intention of “flipping” it to data center operators. In 2019, for example, a data center LLC bought 85 acres on the southeast side of Culpeper for $5.1 million ($57,800/acre) and in 2023 sold the same acreage for $41.3 million ($487,500/acre) to another data center LLC.[5]
Data Center Chronology
Two small data centers have been located in Culpeper County, southeast of the town, for years without apparent controversy. In 2021-2022, the County Department of Economic Development began recruiting additional data center operators to Culpeper, an effort that continues to this day.[6],[7] Controversy emerged, however, in April 2022, when the County Commission voted to approve re-zoning agricultural land near Stevensburg for construction of two data centers, totaling 430,000 square feet. The Commission’s decision came despite a recommendation against approval by the county planning commission and over vociferous opposition from residents. A lawsuit to stop the data centers failed, and the two buildings are currently under construction.
Following that controversy, the County began efforts to concentrate data centers in a “technology zone” established in 2006 southeast of the Town of Culpeper.[8] On October 4, 2022, the Board of Supervisors held a closed session to discuss a prospective “technology industry” business. A month later, the County Rules Committee proposed revisions to the technology zones tax incentives, skewing them to favor capital intensive investments rather than job creation, and waiving 45% of property taxes for five years for qualifying investments. The County Commission adopted the changes on December 6, and held a public hearing on January 3, 2023, on the tracts to be included. The entire process, from initial discussion to completion, took less than 3 months.
Following the County’s lead, the Town of Culpeper acted even more quickly. On November 22, 2022, the Town’s Personnel and Ordinance Committee recommended that the Town Council adopt the same tax incentives proposed for the County for tracts lying in the Town.[9] Twenty-one days later, on December 13, the Town Council approved the proposed changes in tax incentives and also voted to waive the normal second reading of the ordinances, putting them into effect immediately.
While the technology zone tax incentives were being revised, the land encompassing the Copper Ridge project was changing hands. On December 8, 2022, two LLCs purchased the two tracts for $8.6 million.[10] According to Town staff, the new owners initially planned a residential development on the property, but changed course after the technology zone incentives were revised for data centers. If true, they were beneficiaries of remarkably serendipitous timing, closing the transaction 2 days after final approval of the changes by the County Commission and only 5 days before final approval of the changes by the Town Council. Whatever their initial intention, the new owners acted quickly, submitting a request to rezone the two tracts in April 2023.
The Town Planning Commission was first presented with the Copper Ridge proposal in a working session on June 29 and further reviewed the proposal in its July 18 meeting. The Commission held a public hearing on August 15 on the proposed rezoning and received significant public opposition to the proposal. Despite the opposition, the Commission voted 2-2 on a motion to approve the proposal. Planning Commission chairman, John Flanagan, recused himself from the vote due to a possible conflict of interest, and so the proposal went forward to the Town Council without recommendation.
On September 12, 2023, the re-zoning was considered in a public hearing before the Culpeper Town Council. Forty-two letters opposing the application were received and ten residents spoke in opposition. One person spoke in favor. Nevertheless, the Council approved the proposal in a 7-0 vote, with Mr. Yowell absent and Mr. Brown abstaining.
Since the re-zoning, the Town Council has continued its strong support for the Copper Ridge project. On May 29, 2024, the Town’s Light and Power and Environmental Services Committee approved a proposal that Town staff work with Copper Ridge and 3rd party utility providers to provide required utility infrastructure for its project. The Town Council, on June 11, authorized a budget adjustment of $250,000 to the Electric Fund to cover this work, with expenses to be reimbursed by the developer. Also, on May 30, the Town Planning Staff initiated a Comprehensive Plan “conformity review” for the electrical connections for Copper Ridge and Culpeper Technology Campus. A public hearing on June 18 garnered substantial public opposition and the Planning Commission found that the Copper Ridge project’s electrical plan was not in conformance with the 2018 Town Comprehensive Plan. That finding, however, was overruled by the Town Council on July 9, in a 6-2 vote.
More recently, concerns have emerged regarding the noise standards approved for the Copper Ridge project. On September 26, 2024, the developers of an adjacent data center, the Culpeper Technology Campus (CTC), submitted a proposal to the Planning Commission to amend their proffer to match the noise standards approved for Copper Ridge. In reviewing the CTC proposal, it became clear that the noise standards proffered by the Copper Ridge developers, and approved in the 2023 rezoning, contained significant flaws as to enforcement. Town Council members, in a review of the CTC proposal on December 10, appeared to recognize those shortcomings, and deferred a decision on the CTC proposal to March 2025 to further review the issue.
Process Characteristics
To better understand how the Copper Ridge proposal was handled by the Town, the Coalition submitted a FOIA request for all relevant communications from town officials for July, August and September 2023 – the three months leading up to the re-zoning approval. This request generated 880 documents, which included multiple copies of email chains from the various recipients. These documents, combined with public records, reveal several aspects of the process by which this project has moved forward.
Vigorous Public Opposition:
The proposed development at Copper Ridge received considerable opposition from the public at every turn. In their 2023 deliberations, the Planning Commission and Town Council received 42 letters opposing the development, including from the American Legion, the VFW, and the National Parks Conservation Association. In addition, at the Town Council’s public hearing, ten residents voiced opposition to the development and only one was in favor. This opposition was even more remarkable given that the residents of the neighborhood most affected by the development, the East Street Historic District, were unaware of the proposed rezoning. Residents similarly opposed the project in the 2024 Comprehensive Plan conformity review before the Planning Commission and Town Council.
A Complaisant Town Council:
Despite public opposition, the Culpeper Town Council has demonstrated robust support for the Copper Ridge project. As noted, in December 2022, it approved changes in the tax incentives for the technology zone and even agreed not to require a second reading. The Council has also acted quickly to approve actions that were not recommended by the Planning Commission, including approving the 2023 re-zoning and overruling the 2024 non-conformity decision. The June 2024 decision to front $250,000 in Town funds to cover work by the Town’s electrical staff on behalf of the developer also appears unusually proactive. (The actual agreement for support, terms not yet disclosed, has reportedly only recently been executed.)
Active Promotion by Town Officials:
The documents also reveal a remarkably active Town staff in promoting the Copper Ridge project. The picture is a bit opaque, however, as emails from the town manager, Chris Hively, were fully redacted. Furthermore, although we were advised that Paige Read, the Town Director of Tourism and Economic Development, was a key player in the process, FOIA requests produced no substantive email or text messages from her for the three month period. Most of the emails produced under FOIA for this 3-month period involve Andrew Hopewell, the Town’s Director of Planning and Community Development. Those emails, however, reveal an active role in promoting the project.
On August 1, 2023, after the Planning Commission’s July work session was canceled due to lack of a quorum, Hopewell offered to set up private meetings at Culpeper’s Town Hall between Commission members and the Copper Ridge developers to discuss their latest proposed changes to the development. The chairman of the Commission, John Flanagan, protested the “unprecedented access you (Hopewell) are allowing the applicant to have to the Commission.”[11] One Commissioner, John Cerio, appeared to accept.
On August 24, 2023, Andrew Hopewell similarly extended an invitation to the members of the Town Council to meet privately with the Copper Ridge applicants so that they could provide "additional information in advance of the (Town Council) meeting on September 12." Hopewell specifically noted that "we will not be able to have more than two Council members at a time" presumably because that would be a clear violation of Virginia Code § 2.2-3701 that defines a meeting as including three or more members.[12]
On August 25, 2023, Hopewell, Economic Advisor Paige Reid, and Town Manager Chris Hively were invited to meet with the Copper Ridge developers to review and help refine the developer’s “planned approach to the presentation of the rezoning application” to the Town Council on September 12.[13]
Sidelining Potential Opposition:
The emails also reveal efforts to suppress or sideline potential opponents of the Copper Ridge project. Prior to the Planning Commission’s vote on the project, John Flanagan, the Chairman, was pressured to recuse himself, which resulted in the Commission’s tied, 2-2 vote on the re-zoning. The effort began with an August 2 email from Andrew Hopewell suggesting that Flanagan had a potential conflict of interest arising from his employment by the Rappahannock Electric Cooperative (REC), a potential provider of electric power. Flanagan argued that he didn’t see a potential conflict, that there was no potential for personal gain. Ultimately, after additional pressure, he ultimately decided to recuse, noting to a colleague that “this whole thing is much larger than it appears. Not interested in stepping in front of that train.”[14]
Efforts were also made to suppress the views of the Piedmont Environmental Council (PEC), a key opponent of data center sprawl across the region. In an August 28, 2023 email, Andrew Hopewell reported to the Copper Ridge developers that he had convinced Culpeper Renaissance not to include Sarah Parmelee, PEC’s Culpeper representative, in a briefing on the project with downtown business owners.[15] Similarly, after setting up a briefing by the Copper Ridge developer to Culpeper’s American Legion Post, Council Member Joe Short reported to the developers that the group had, unfortunately, also invited Parmelee. His proposed solution to the American Legion was to limit Parmelee to a 10-minute presentation.[16]
Analysis
Culpeper’s National Cemetery has been maintained for generations to provide a peaceful setting for remembrance of America’s veterans and their family members. It is a central historic feature in a town celebrated for its history. Although data center development at this location was never contemplated in Culpeper’s Comprehensive plan, it took Town officials only a few months to approve a project that threatens both the sanctity and history of the cemetery. The decision-making process was, and remains, largely opaque. Hopefully, this review provides a clearer picture of what actions town officials have taken regarding the Copper Ridge project. Unfortunately, it doesn’t fully answer why they’ve taken those actions.
One can assume that, since first drinking the data center Kool-Aid back in 2022, the Town Council has been intoxicated with the promise of easy money. However, in response to a FOIA request, we have been advised that the Town has no forecasts of how much tax revenue it might receive or plans for what it would fund with it. Furthermore, even a cursory review of Culpeper’s financial statements reveals a robust financial position, characterized by a solid tax base, an operating surplus, a large reserve fund, and minimal long term debt. Some Council members have pointed to a desire to retire the Town’s debt. However, the only significant long-term debt, for capital improvements for water and sewer systems, appears to be easily serviced through user fees for those services. Furthermore, since the (municipal bond) interest rate on that debt is lower than interest earned on the Town’s bank deposits, it would make little sense to retire it.
The town staff, if anything, has been even more zealous than the Town Council in promoting the Copper Ridge project – appearing to act more as cheerleaders for the developer than a source of unbiased advice for Town officials. It is not clear why. Perhaps Town employees have been working at the direction of the Council or individual Council members. Perhaps the Town Manager has determined that data center development is such a good idea that his team should lobby the Council to approve it. Perhaps there are other reasons.
Whatever the motivation of Town officials, many residents of Culpeper remain staunchly opposed to data center sprawl in the area and to development of the Copper Ridge project, in particular. Among all the data center projects that have been approved for the County and Town, Copper Ridge poses the most serious risk to the historic downtown and to the sanctity of the National Cemetery. There is also concern about the general lack of transparency in the approval process, and the appearance of a cozy relationship between Town officials and the Copper Ridge developers. In response, the Coalition to Save Culpeper has been formed to protect the rural, historic character of the Town from the threat of data center sprawl. The outcome of this effort remains to be seen.
Footnotes
[1] The opposition would have been even more vigorous, but the homeowners in the town’s South East Street Historic District, which are among the residents most affected by the plan, were never specifically notified of the re-zoning and were unaware until after it had been approved.
[2] The motion carried by the following roll call vote: Aye: Clancey, Kalenga, Reaves, Rimeikis, Schmidt, Short,Taylor (7); Nay: None (0); Abstain: Brown (1); Absent: Yowell (1).
[3] Magnum Economics, Data Center Development, Net Tax Revenues for the Town and County of Culpeper, Virginia Considering Technology Zone Incentives, March 8, 2023.
[4] Town of Culpeper FY 2025 Adopted Budget. https://files.culpeperva.gov/FY25%20Adopted%20Budget.pdf
[5] Culpeper County Assessor Information for six tracts 51/84/(C,E,J,M,P)
[8] At some point in 2021 or 2022, Rappahannock Electric Cooperative requested a connection from Dominion Energy for a data center in this area. https://vimeo.com/764944206/2ffcef8331
[9] Note: The proposed County technology zone map indicates that the tract closest to the National Cemetery (41-103) was “to be considered for removal.” The proposed Town technology zone map included it, however. It is not clear who made the decision on this tract or why.
[10] Planning Director Andrew Hopewell has asserted that the Copper Ridge developers “purchased the property
prior to the adoption of the Technology Zone and with no awareness of it as they were intending to develop the site under the residential zoning for age-restricted units.”
[11] Click Here
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