Stafford's Route 3 data center plan: 1,405 acres, 14 substations
Stafford's Planning Commission holds one Nov. 18 public hearing on four linked Kings Highway data center applications covering 1,404.82 acres and about 9 million square feet.
Stafford County's Planning Commission will hold a single public hearing on Nov. 18 at 6 p.m. in Board Chambers on four linked data center applications along Kings Highway (Route 3), according to the county's project page. Together, the Kings Highway (Route 3) data center sites cover 1,404.82 acres and would hold about 9 million square feet of data centers in 37 buildings, served by 14 electrical substations.
The county lists the sites separately. Forest Lane is the largest at 844.92 acres, with about 6 million square feet, 26 buildings and eight substations. Sisson South covers 241.18 acres with about 2.5 million square feet, 10 buildings and one substation. Simms Farm covers 204.71 acres with about 500,000 square feet, one building and two substations. Sisson North, at 114.01 acres, is a substation-only proposal with three substations.
The applicant for all four is Real Estate Pursuits 2 LC. The sites are in the George Washington Election District. Forest Lane and Sisson North are north of Route 3; Sisson South and Simms Farm are south of the road near the Rappahannock River. Forest Lane, Simms Farm and Sisson South each seek a zoning reclassification, a conditional use permit and a comprehensive compliance review. Sisson North seeks a conditional use permit and a compliance review.
The four are presented together at both the Planning Commission and the Board of Supervisors, but the county says each application is "considered and voted on individually." The Planning Commission is the first body to act; the Board of Supervisors is the second, and the county page lists no Board hearing dates. Speakers get up to three minutes in total, and the hearing covers all four projects at once.
The applications have been in review for more than a year. The county lists them as complete on March 26, 2025 (Simms Farm), May 28, 2025 (Sisson North), May 29, 2025 (Sisson South) and June 27, 2025 (Forest Lane), and notes that multiple rounds of staff reviews and resubmittals were required. The hearing was originally set for Oct. 14; the county canceled that meeting after discussions between the applicant and staff.
Each application gets its own vote, so the commission could recommend some sites and not others, and the Board of Supervisors makes the final call on a corridor that could add about 9 million square feet of data centers and 14 substations along the Rappahannock River.
What's next
- Nov. 18 Stafford Planning Commission public hearing on all four applications, 6 p.m., Board Chambers
- TBD Board of Supervisors hearing and votes; no date posted
Sources
- Stafford County: Proposed Data Centers Along Kings Highway (Route 3)
- The Virginia Pulse: Stafford approves Accokeek data center, larger Route 3 sites up next (Oct. 11)
How we source: sources and corrections.
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