Amazon's Ashton data center proposal near Manassas deferred again

A rezoning proposal for three new Amazon data centers along Ashton Avenue near Manassas Mall was deferred Jan. 8 for the second time in three months, shifting its planned public hearing before the Board of County Supervisors from Jan. 21 to a date uncertain.

County staff announced the new deferral at the biweekly meeting of the county’s Data Center Ordinance Advisory Group, which was recently restructured to prioritize citizen interests.

The Prince William County Planning Commission voted 6-1 during its June 26 meeting to recommend the project’s denial due to residents’ concerns regarding noise, impacts on local wildlife and neighborhood proximity.

The initial rezoning request involved approximately 52 acres transitioning from agricultural and residential use to industrial and transportation for 600,000 square feet of data centers. An allowable height change to a new threshold of 95 feet was also included to facilitate data center operations.

The proposal had already been delayed this fall when it was initially set to be considered by the board Oct. 22 and was subsequently withdrawn – with Amazon Web Services citing insufficient time between the company’s Oct. 1 community engagement open house at Ellis Elementary School and the board’s ensuing meeting three weeks later.

According to an email to the advisory group from county planner Reza Ramyar, provided to InsideNoVa, the county opted to defer the project to further evaluate and implement changes therein.

“The Planning Office removed it from the [Board of County Supervisors] public hearing to allow more time for internal review and to coordinate with the applicant,” Ramyar said in the email, “as the project underwent changes after the [Planning Commission] meeting.”

The project's address is 8552 Ashton Ave., Manassas, part of the Brentsville magisterial district. It's located north of the intersection of Ashton Avenue and Rixlew Lane, east of the Vulcan Quarry and between Ellis Elementary School and Unity Reed High School. 

Brentsville District Supervisor Tom Gordy told InsideNoVa via email he is "trying to get clarity on the status of the case," which falls within his purview as district supervisor. He reiterated Ramyar's reasoning regarding forthcoming project alterations.

"No one from [Amazon Web Services] has reached out to me related to a deferral," Gordy said. "However, I think the deferral is being put forward by staff due to the significant changes to the application and the need for staff [to] review the changes, but I leave that to staff to confirm."  

According to advisory group member Dale Browne, who represents the Great Oak neighborhood near Manassas, Amazon’s proffer 21.a states the facility “shall be subject to a maximum permissible sound level of 65 dBA” – five decibels louder than the allowable limit, per the county's noise ordinance in Chapter 14 of the county code – and “Emergency operations shall not be subject to the limitations outlined in [the proffer].”  

Browne said this noise-related leniency is cause for concern among residents.

“This application causes some huge concerns given the language in their proffer – first, the db(A) levels that they will ‘restrict’ themselves to is WHERE WE STARTED in Great Oak,” Browne said in an email to InsideNoVa. “Second, they are once again ignoring the low frequency noise levels (below 1000 Hz) where we know the crux of their noise problem lies. Third, all of this is dismissed if they can assert an emergency.” 

The area is part of the Sudley Road corridor, a zone the county has designated for redevelopment. Florida-based developer Lionheart Capital in 2023 held a private meeting with the Board of County Supervisors to discuss the development of 1,000 rental units on three parcels adjacent to Manassas Mall.

Potential future residents of the new complexes would ostensibly have to deal with the impact of the Ashton data centers on their community, located right across Ashton Avenue.