Diode Ventures has submitted are zoning application to the Charles City County Planning Commission and Board of Supervisors for the development of a data center campus within the existing Roxbury Development Center (see map for exact location). The five mainly forested properties totaling 515 acres making up the site are within one of two areas designated for future growth in the county. The project creates a natural extension of the Roxbury Industrial Center and is consistent with the County’s Comprehensive Plan.

Diode has submitted a conditional rezoning application for the project parcels to Light Industrial (M-1). The Planning Commission will review the proposal and allow for public comment in order to make a recommendation to the Board of Supervisors for final approval. From there, Diode will work with local utilities and permitting agencies before proceeding with site plan approval and building permits.
Diode is committed to the communities where we have a presence. We are dedicated to fostering local prosperity through collaboration and engagement with residents, local officials, agencies and nonprofits.

A data center is a secure physical facility filled with computer servers, storage devices, networking equipment, and other infrastructure that stores, processes, and manages large amounts of data. Data centers are crucial for many online services that we use every day, such as search engines, telehealth appointments, social media, online shopping, and video streaming. The “cloud” is a network of connected data centers that work together to provide computing services and resources to users around the world.

Data center operators often take great care to design these facilities to blend in with their surroundings. Typically, data centers are two stories or less and have an unassuming exterior similar to a typical office or warehouse building with minimal windows. This is particularly true for large data center campuses, which are often master-planned and designed to be as unobtrusive as possible. To achieve this, natural buffers such as trees, shrubs, and berms are used to shield the data center from the public eye and reduce the visual impact of the facility. The goal is to create a facility that is both functional and efficient, while also being aesthetically pleasing and environmentally responsible.

Roxbury Technology Park is in the early stages of development. The current focus is on rezoning the project to the Light Industrial (M-1) district and complying with setback requirements and performance standards for data centers per the applicable Charles City County code. If approved, the future construction of the project will utilize best management practices for monitoring and managing construction traffic that would be applicable to a typical industrial project of similar nature and size. These practices would likely include developing a comprehensive traffic management plan, using appropriate signage and flaggers, implementing traffic calming measures, coordinating with local authorities, scheduling deliveries during off-peak hours, and communicating with stakeholders about potential disruptions.

In the long term, the project aims to minimize disruption to its neighbors and to respect the rural heritage of Charles City County during development, construction, and operation. At Diode, we are committed to giving back to the communities where we operate, and we work to foster local prosperity through collaboration and engagement with residents, officials, agencies, and nonprofits. Our projects prioritize local workforce development and education, and we are dedicated to forming a strong community partnership with Charles City County. We take our responsibility to the community seriously and are always looking for ways to make a positive impact.

Charles City County is an ideal location for a data center, thanks to its available land, overhead transmission lines, proximity to fiber networks, available workforce, and support of economic development in targeted areas as described in the 2014 Comprehensive Land Use Plan.

Tax Revenue: Data centers are highly sought-after economic development projects because the expensive servers and other technology provides localities with significant tax revenue. The potential tax revenue from a data center project can be economically transformative for a county and provide countless new opportunities through increased funding available to schools, for social programs, infrastructure improvements and other local priorities.
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Jobs: During peak construction the project is expected to generate between 800-1,200 construction jobs, including many skilled labor jobs such as electricians, plumbers, and HVAC professionals. Once operational, it is estimated that the project will create between 50-100 full-time permanent jobs. This number does not account for indirect and induced economic contributions from those construction and operations jobs. Diode will work with local job training entities to seek opportunities for local county residents to attain the skills needed to fill the permanent data center jobs at the campus.

Infrastructure: Generally, when a data center is established in a community, it can lead to improvements in grid reliability for the community. The power needs of a data center often require upgrades to the local utility infrastructure at the expense of the developer and result in benefits for the surrounding community, such as a more resilient electrical grid that is better equipped to handle power outages and other disruptions.  

Retain Local Character: Data centers are unique development opportunities because they create very little traffic, have low job density, and do not put a strain on local and municipal services such as EMS, schools, public safety, and fire departments. This allows communities to receive the significant economic and infrastructure benefits of data center development without the strain on resources that other developments of this scale generate.

Diode is working with a local traffic engineer and VDOT to study traffic impact, including requirements and recommendations for safe conditions.  Once the data center is operational there will be minimal traffic impacts as data centers operate with a small staff and are not open to the public. Our goal is to create the safest and most efficient traffic patterns around our project for the people of Charles City County.

Following conditional rezoning approval, Diode will work to mitigate the impact of light and noise from the facility by designing a plan for both energy-efficient lighting solutions that prevent light pollution and noise mitigation features, such as sound attenuating walls, generator enclosures, exhaust mufflers, acoustical louvers, and low-noise coolers. Diode is committed to designing a facility that is sensitive to the environment and that considers the needs of the nearby community. Data centers are typically two-stories or less and use trees, shrubs and berms to shield the facilities from neighboring residents. Similarly, modern lighting solutions can eliminate or significantly minimize impacts on neighbors. Furthermore, the project site is bounded by environmentally sensitive areas, which will allow the project to be designed with no or minimal visual or noise impacts.

Groundwater use for the project will be minimal and will not be used for data center cooling purposes. Minimal groundwater may be used for domestic and non-potable purposes, such as restrooms and kitchens. This limited use of groundwater is expected to have negligible impacts the county’s aquifer.  

The water solution for the project to support data center cooling activities has yet to be determined. Two preliminary, but viable, options have been identified as: 1) utilizing surface water from a neighboring locality or 2) pulling water from the James River (or other nearby river). Once conditional rezoning has been accomplished, Diode will continue to evaluate these water options including any engineering, modeling, and permitting efforts. Diode is committed to following all state and local regulations, including VDEQ and the County, regarding water use and disposal.

Data centers use large amounts of electricity, which will come from Dominion Energy. The location of the Dominion Chickahominy Substation nearby and multiple transmission lines through the property is one of the reasons this location is attractive for a data center campus. Diode is currently working with Dominion on details regarding when the project can be served with the electricity needed. Any need for infrastructure upgrades to support Roxbury Technology Park would be paid for by the end user and not the citizens of Charles City County.

The Project will encourage more robust economic communities by providing the local government with one of its first opportunities for a new industry that is in high demand (Comprehensive Plan Goal #1).

The Project can be designed in a way that is sensitive to the county’s existing character and quality of life, through master planning efforts that are consistent with local regulations and quality of life for the existing community (Comprehensive Plan Goal #2).

The Project is expected to have a low density of employees per square foot (minimal effect on traffic), to be designed in a campus-like setting with setbacks per the Zoning Ordinance, and to be a highly secure facility. For these reasons, the Project will preserve the county’s rural heritage and quality of life (Comprehensive Plan Goal #4).

The development of the Project within the Roxbury Development Center on the Future Land Use Map will encourage ancillary industrial and tech businesses (Comprehensive Plan Goal #5).

Overall, the Project can help to achieve the Comprehensive Plan's objective of promoting public and private investment in development centers by attracting other businesses and generating tax revenue. The Project can also assist the county in meeting its goal of maintaining “30% of its tax base in commercial and industrial properties” as stated in Chapter 9 of the Comprehensive Plan, while providing new job opportunities and additional tax revenues.