Limiting vs. concentrating? Residents angry proposed data industry regulation would put all future centers in their community

UPDATE: Henrico will further workshop proposed revisions to its data center regulations

HENRICO COUNTY, Va. (WRIC) -- Henrico County leaders are considering limiting where data centers can go up in the county. However, some community members fear their proposed regulations are not actually about scaling back the booming industry.

Planning leaders will discuss an ordinance that ensures future data centers can only go up in certain parts of Varina. While this proposal may come across as a way to minimize regulate the industry, Varina residents clarified that, if you read between the lines, it's really just concentrating it all in one place.

8News met with Varina resident Gray Montrose ahead of Thursday's meeting.

"The benefits get shared -- the burdens are localized in Varina," Montrose said.

Montrose loves her community, but since the data center industry began taking off in Henrico, she said her feelings toward county officials have shifted.

"[Community members] felt betrayed," Montrose said. "We felt lied to."

This shift came as she and her community watched as large-scale new industrial projects were continuously sent straight into their rural community.

Now, Henrico County leaders are discussing how to regulate the booming data center industry. Their recently proposed set of regulations would restrict all future growth to Varina's White Oak Technology Park area.

"When they say, 'Limit data centers to the White Oak region,' they mean data centers only go in Varina," Montrose explained. "Data centers don't go in Short Pump. Data centers don't go in River Mill."

According to the proposed coding change, building a center in any other part of the county would require special permits.

"I want to see the Board of Supervisors reckon with the fact that they want only the people of Varina to have to put up with the public health issues, the burdens, the environmental pollution from this industry that makes the whole county money," Montrose said.

In May 2024, the county approved a 622-acre data center project near Technology Boulevard. Since then, the industry has continued to rake in money — boosting Henrico's local economy.

Leaders frequently detai the millions of dollars the industry has secured for critical projects across the county including expanding access to affordable housing, further developing Henrico's sports tourism industry and more.

However, Montrose said she believes there's more to her home than dollar signs.

"That's not why we're here," Montrose said. "That's not who we are. We're not about money. We're about a great community where people feel safe, where they can breathe clean air and drink clean water. We are a community that cares about the people who live here, not the people that want to extract money from us."

Henrico's planning team told 8News they were not available ahead of Thursday's meeting for an interview. A representative for Henrico County Board of Supervisor's Varina District representative Tyrone Nelson said he would be happy to speak with 8News following the meeting.

This is a developing story, stay tuned for updates.