Hanover Planning Commission votes to deny rezoning request for data center development
- LoriDawn Messuri
- Jan 16
- 2 min read
By: Joi Fultz
Posted 10:19 PM, Jan 15, 2026
and last updated 6:13 AM, Jan 16, 2026
HANOVER COUNTY, Va. — The Hanover County Planning Commission voted to deny a motion to rezone about 400 acres for a data center complex.
The plan would reclassify the land, which is near Henrico's Wyndham community, from agricultural to light industrial for the 10-building project developed by HHHunt. With the Planning Commission voting not to recommend the plan, the final decision now turns over to the Board of Supervisors. They will discuss it at their Feb. 25 meeting.
The Planning Commission also voted not to recommend two other motions related to the development: a conditional use permit and a comprehensive plan amendment.
The Planning Commission's Thursday night meeting was packed, with community members standing in the back of the room and more than 60 standing outside the room who were unable to fit. A November meeting on the project drew hundreds.
Before the meeting, dozens gathered outside to protest the development.
During the meeting, the Planning Commission heard from Hanover County staff, a representative of HHHunt, and residents both for and against rezoning the area for a data center.
Developer comments
Those with the development team shared that the project would take about 10 years to build, with no more than five buildings being built at a time.
Developers said the data centers would bring at least 420 jobs and an estimated $8.3 million in tax revenue once they are completed.
They went on to address some of the negative impacts a data center could have on the county, and some ways they would aim to mitigate those problems. That includes creating buffers, paying for potential damage caused to roads, installing systems to use less water from wells, and limiting times when generators can be used to limit noise.
Public comment
Residents in favor of the project attributed their support to the added jobs and tax revenue the project could bring to the county.
"Data center construction allowed me and hundreds of other Hanover County residents and thousands of Virginia tradesmen to build solid middle class careers," one speaker said in voicing his support for the plan. "These are good jobs with benefits, retirement plans, and the ability to raise families and buy homes right here in Hanover, like I have.:
The next two-and-a-half hours of public comment was spent hearing from those against the development. Speakers shared their discontent in disrupting the rural area, pointing to impacts like increased traffic, noise pollution, air pollution, and the large amounts of water the data centers would use.
"Once you approve a data center, you don't just approve one building. You set a precedent. You signal that Hanover County is open to industrial scale resource extraction at the expense of its residents, families and our future generations," a data center opponent said during the public comment section of the meeting. "This decision will outlive every person in this room. It will shape what our children inherit. I ask you to choose long-term responsibility over short term incentives and make the right choice."
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