Frederick’s Planning Commission voted Wednesday to recommend the County Council restrict the land available for data center development to the current Eastalco Community Growth Area (ECGA).
The vote comes as the county is creating a map to limit the overall land available for data center development to prevent urban sprawl.
Originally, data centers could be constructed on any industrially zoned land, which at the time was approximately 5,000 acres. A bill passed in June reduced that number to 4,200 acres or 1% of the county’s total landmass.
That number dropped even further when the county drafted a map — also known as the critical digital infrastructure overlay zone, or CDI — OZ- which only allowed for a proposed 2,500 acres. The map went for state review in July and the planning commission heard testimony from residents on October 15.
Planning Commission Decision
The decision before the planning commission was ultimately where to recommend the county draw the lines of the CDI-OZ’s map. While approximately 1,600 acres of land within the proposed map were not up for debate, 9 parcels of land, approximately 900 acres, were.
County resident Matt Moran wanted the line to remain at Frederick’s current data center campus, Quantum Frederick, which overlaps the ECGA. Maryland already imports 40% of its power and Moran was concerned data centers will make things more costly for rate payers. “Those power lines that already feed the site will not be able to take that additional load,” Moran explained. “It’s going to take more power lines leading through Frederick County in order to bring energy to these places.”
Ultimately, Commission Vice Chair Mark Long made a motion to recommend the county limit the CDI-OZ to only properties already within the ECGA.
Passing unanimously, this decision included the Catellus digital campus that already has preliminary site plan approval, the Noffsinger and Windridge properties, as well as parcels 1, 2, and 9.
Commission Secretary Sam Tressler was among those who voted for the limited recommendation. He wants to see the overlay used to leverage additional income for the county. “Unless we get a property tax on these [data centers], at least 2% or 3%, they’re not going to bring any income to the county,” Tressler said.
A second motion to include the parcels 5-8, made by Commissioner Joel Rensberger, was subsequently voted down.
Rensberger wanted to include those parcels because he feels the Adamstown location is ideal for data centers. He argues the land is already serviced by the necessary infrastructure, including power, water and sewage. “If we can capture a little more of that land, we can have more revenue for the county and prevent data centers and overhead lines from popping up elsewhere in the county,” Rensberger said.
The final recommendations of the planning commission will go before the county council, who has final say on the matter. A public hearing will be held before the council casts their vote.
