Smyth County resident sues to void data center ordinance
A county resident has asked Smyth County Circuit Court to void the supervisors' vote on a zoning ordinance that requires special use permits for data centers.
SMYTH COUNTY — A Smyth County resident has asked the county's Circuit Court to void the Board of Supervisors' vote on a data center zoning ordinance, Cardinal News reported Nov. 12. The plaintiff, Charles Wassum, filed the suit in October, according to the report. No hearing has been scheduled, and the case number was not published.
According to Cardinal News, the ordinance requires data center developers to get a special use permit and go through a public process. Data processing facilities were previously allowed by right in industrial and commercial zones. The ordinance also adds agricultural zones to the places where data centers can be allowed.
The suit makes four claims, as Cardinal News described them: that the ordinance conflicts with the county's April 2024 comprehensive plan, which designates much of the county as farmland; that it was significantly amended after the June planning commission hearing without another public hearing; that the board moved the vote ahead of public comment; and that remote participation by two absent supervisors, one of whom voted by phone, did not meet legal conditions. These are the plaintiff's allegations, and the court has not ruled on them.
County documents show the ordinance's path through the Planning Commission. In the commission's meeting packet for Oct. 22, 2026, the minutes of its Aug. 27 meeting record a 5-1 vote, with one member absent, to recommend that the Board approve draft Section 4-19, Data Centers, with amendments. The minutes say commissioners confirmed the requirements would apply to all zones. The packet does not show the date or vote of the Board's adoption, which The Virginia Pulse could not confirm in a county document.
County Administrator Shawn Utt told Cardinal News the county "worked through a thoughtful, engaging process to develop a proposed ordinance." The county has no official comment on the lawsuit, the report said.
If the court voids the vote, the rules that decide where and how data centers can be built in Smyth County would be in question while projects in Southwest Virginia are still being proposed.
What's next
- TBD Smyth County Circuit Court hearing; no date set
Sources
- Smyth County Planning Commission meeting packet, Oct. 22, 2026 (includes Aug. 27 minutes on draft Section 4-19)
- Cardinal News: Smyth County resident files lawsuit against new data center ordinance (Nov. 12; secondary source for the lawsuit and ordinance terms)
How we source: sources and corrections.
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