Inform Fredericksburg

08/27/2026

THE PENZANCE DATA CENTER VOTE--What Is Really Happening?

City Council recently voted 7-0 against the proposed Penzance data center project along I-95 between Rt. 3 and Cowan Blvd., and adjacent to Great Oaks subdivision. What stood out during the debate on the project was the lack of details on the impact of the project. Nor was there any mention of the impact of the STACK data center planned at Celebrate VA. An interesting picture emerges when we step back and look at how both projects have been evaluated.

City staff keeps the public in the dark by handling FOIA requests as only a search for documents. Staff refuse to respond to any straightforward, basic questions with an answer, only "No responsive records.” So, if we ask them what color the ground is under the data centers, the response would be “No responsive records.”

Figures and numbers provided by the developers are meaningless to the public because they provide no supporting materials. And much is hidden behind non-disclosure agreements. Why are non-disclosure agreements even acceptable? There’s not enough competition for such a huge project in the city (actually none after the vote), to make one necessary.

Online research produces conflicting estimates of costs and usage due to a lack of public information. In the case of AI, many responses have the caveat, “insufficient public information.” What does this say about transparency between Fredericksburg’s leadership and the voters who put them there? A lot.

What follows represents our best efforts to go through available information. Our hope is that city staff and Council will take this opportunity to correct any errors in this post by providing the information currently being withheld from the public.

In a Fredericksburg Advance story published before the vote, a member of City Council expressed concerns that the city couldn’t provide the infrastructure for two data center projects. Inform Fredericksburg has tried to cover this issue not only from the city’s perspective but regionally when you look at the number of data centers going up in the neighboring jurisdictions. What is their potential impact on Fredericksburg’s shared resources like water and electricity?

So why doesn’t Council now take the opportunity to elaborate on the impact on city infrastructure? The answer, we think, is political. Placate the public with a feel-good moment by turning down the Penzance project, while allowing the STACK data center campus to continue to move forward behind closed doors.

In the same Advance story, Council members expressed two concerns:
• The proximity of the Penzance project to residential development.
• The proximity of transmission lines to Hugh Mercer Elementary School.

If we accept the Council members at their word, then let’s look at why they approve STACK project.

The Penzance project is roughly 600 feet from the Great Oaks subdivision. If that distance is a reason to vote against the project, why is the council allowing the STACK project in Celebrate VA within the Technology Overlay District (TOD) to be within 200 feet of residential development? In the case of the Celebrate VA site three residential projects will be impacted. So, is the issue proximity to residential development or just proximity to certain residential developments?

All decisions regarding electrical infrastructure will be made by Dominion Power with state oversight. While the Penzance project proposed to build an onsite power station no mention is made of it on the Dominion Power website. Even if it were considered, the transmission lines would still be needed to tie it into the existing grid. Where would they go?

Inform Fredericksburg has reviewed Dominion Power’s current plans for improvements to Fredericksburg’s electrical grid needed to accommodate data centers. At this point there are two significant projects.

The first is referred to the Allman Sub-Station. This is primarily an upgrade and expansion of the current Powhatan Street transmission station located near Hugh Mercer Elementary School. So, looking at a map (which we have posted) the route for the transmission line to the STACK project presents the same problems as the Penzance project. Getting the lines to the STACK project will also impact more residential areas than the Penzance project.

If the location of transmission lines was a factor in voting down the Penzance project, how will council members justify the STACK project if the transmission lines impact Hugh Mercer Elementary School and nearby residential neighborhoods?

Another transmission line improvement, which has not been discussed, is upgrading the transmission lines to the Powhatan station. The most significant part of the project is identified as the Elmont-Fredericksburg upgrades. This will involve increasing capacity along the Lafayette Boulevard corridor, going through several residential neighborhoods. This project also involves adding and increasing the height of transmission towers by 50 to 100 feet. When will this discussion begin with the affected neighborhoods?

The council will likely claim that Dominion Power was going to do this work anyway. But does that actually lessen the impact? Given that Dominion Power is scrambling to meet data center demands—even reopening mothballed plants and pausing green initiatives—the evidence points to data center demands on the power grid. Regardless of their excuse, this is an essential conversation.

Council’s recent comments and unanimous vote turning down the Penzance project leaves more unanswered questions than before the vote. The biggest concern is Council’s inconsistency and lack of candor when approaching two data centers. They both affect the public in nearly identical ways. Yet one gets a yes vote and the other is turned down. The question is why? And we don’t expect to get an answer anytime soon.

We need to demand a more open, inclusive, and transparent discussion on data centers in The Burg.

08/20/2026

204 LEWIS STREET—What It Says About the City's Preservation Priorities...........

The current court case involving the demolition at 204 Lewis Street centers on the question of who has standing to appeal Architectural Review Board (ARB) decisions in the city’s Historic District. The city’s position is that Historic Fredericksburg Foundation (HFFI) does not have standing based on state statutes. What the city does not want to acknowledge is that they have the authority to broaden the guidelines on who has standing. Ignoring this, and other recent decisions by the city, indicates that it’s working to circumvent preservation goals in favor of more intensive development.

The city’s position on standing at 204 Lewis Street is an example of how far the city is willing to go to undermine the Historic District. HFFI’s headquarters at the Lewis Store on Caroline Street is less than 50 feet from 204 Lewis Street which would meet the proximity clause of the state standing statute. The city argued that HFFI needed to show, “a particularized harm” in this cause financial, i.e., loss in value to their property. The actual goals of the Historic District to preserve the downtown’s character are ignored by City Hall.

In recent Virginia Supreme Court case, Anders Larsen vs The Fairfax Board of Supervisors, the court took the position that adjacency was sufficient in establishing standing. In that case the court ruled that properties in close proximity of the affected property needed only to allege a particularized harm, not have to prove it, before being granted standing.

In the case involving 204 Lewis Street, the Supreme Court overturned a lower court ruling that supported the city's denial of standing to HFFI. The circuit court will now have to decide on the basis of the recent Supreme Court rulings. What form it will take remains to be seen. Regardless, the city has the authority to both better define and broaden standing in the Historic District.

Under state code section 15.2-2306 the state has granted localities substantial authority in setting up Historic Districts. Regarding standing, code section 15.2-2306(A) states a locality, “shall specify therein the parties entitled to appeal.” The General Assembly has given localities the right to determine who can appeal an ARB decision to circuit court. We went on ChatGBT to see what form that could take and be legally defendable. Here are the options presented:

Narrow: Only property owners directly affected by the historic-district decision can appeal.

Moderate: Property owners, adjacent owners, recognized preservation organizations, and persons with a demonstrated historic-resource interest can participate and/or appeal administratively.

Broad: Any city resident or taxpayer can participate in historic-review proceedings, with a defined subset given the right to appeal the final decision to circuit court.

The moderate-to-broad model is potentially supportable under §15.2-2306, because the statute expressly allows the locality to specify the parties entitled to appeal. But the ordinance should be drafted carefully so that it expands access to the local historic-preservation process without purporting to override judicial standing requirements.

These options are presented to begin a conversation that is long overdue. This is not just about one property. It’s about how important is Fredericksburg’s historic character to its future. Having a Historic District, Preservation Plans, Archaeology Ordinances, and preservation goals in the Comprehensive Plan are meaningless if the city is not prepared to follow them. Currently City Hall actions, or lack thereof, seem to be focused on getting around them. The current issue of standing is but one example.

Some other of the city’s preservation shortcomings are: Failure of the city to deal with demolition by neglect and using the building code to bypass its own preservation process to ensure demolitions. This is the city’s back-up plan for 204 Lewis Street. Failure to implement the recommendations of the Preservation Plan to include incentivizing preservation and forming an independent review committee to review city compliance of its own preservation goals.

Getting the city to follow its stated preservation goals only begins with expanding standing. Getting the city to take any action will be difficult. Current leadership sees preservation as an impediment to more intensive development throughout the city. If we as a community believe that preservation of the city’s character is important, we will have to take the lead to make it happen.

08/06/2026

THE RENWICK COURTHOUSE—Is City Hall ignoring Its Own Preservation Goals?

At their June 23rd work session, City Council gave their stamp of approval to put out a Request for Proposal (RFP) for a Public-Private Partnership for the historic restoration of Renwick courthouse. The goals were to maintain historic character and ensure a public use as laid out in the city’s Comprehensive Plan, Preservation Plan, and years of public input. Sadly, the RFP passed by the City Council ensures that this does NOT happen.

Public discussion about Renwick’s future began as early as 2010 when the decision to build the current courthouse was made official. Studies and plans compiled in the last decade outlined important goals and commonly held beliefs regarding the future of the courthouse complex, showing support for the public use and ownership of the courthouse complex.

In July of 2023 a working group was established to plan for the re-use of the Renwick Courthouse complex consisting of the courthouse, old jail, and the old Wallace Library. The group included two members of City Council, five members of city staff, preservation and economic development representatives, as well as an architect, a developer, and a banker to help ensure the final plan’s viability. A facilitator was brought on who had experience with the redevelopment of historic buildings for localities. The group agreed on three main goals: 1) Focus on the re-use of the courthouse building; 2) Public use and ownership of the courthouse building to be maintained; 3) Other uses in the complex needed to generate revenue to support the first two goals.

The plan for the redevelopment of the site based on those goals was presented to the City Council in December 2023. Here is the link to the presentation to the City Council: https://www.fredericksburgva.gov/DocumentCenter/View/26467/12-12-2023-Renwick-Group-Council-Presentation-PDF?bidId=

The next step was to prepare a Request for Proposals (RFP) to secure a development firm to meet the goals outlined by the Renwick Working Group. As with other city projects, this one fell off the radar screen and went behind closed doors in City Hall. What came out was not in line with the recommendations of the working group adopted by the City Council, the city’s Comprehensive Plan, nor the wishes of city residents confirmed in several public meetings.

The City’s draft RFP for the Renwick complex was produced by a hired private consultant in conjunction with City staff. The working group was not engaged in this process until a 90% completed RFP was circulated. And when it was pointed out that the RFP was not in line with the adopted goals for the courthouse complex, they were ignored.

Historic Fredericksburg Foundation, Inc. (HFFI) responded to city staff’s request for comments on the draft RFP. The organization’s main concerns were the confusing and conflicting language regarding the adopted goals concerning the Courthouse’s significance, public ownership, and the availability of financial grants and incentives to ensure its high-quality rehabilitation.
Regarding the main goal of maintaining public ownership/use of the courthouse the RFP only calls for, “occasional public access” or “some public use.” Later the goal is only listed as a “preference.” What happened to—There will be public ownership and use of the courthouse.

In addition to conflicting wording on public use in the RFP, the city’s actions have reinforced this concern. Efforts to use the courtroom for public events, requiring minimal and non-invasive changes, have been rebuffed. A request, including a business plan, to hold small concerts or theater events there was dismissed by the City Manager. Requests to access the courthouse to evaluate possible public use have been denied.

Another issue was the working group’s recommendation that the courthouse be evaluated for listing in the National Register of Historic Place. This has been an ongoing issue which City Hall continues to block. HFFI had asked the city to move forward with individual listing of the Renwick property back in December 2019, offering to pay half the cost. This offer is still on the table. The process of listing the courthouse in the National Register would open doors to state and national grants beyond the use of Historic Tax Credits. The National Register evaluation and designation is not mentioned in the RFP despite HFFI’s request for it to be added as originally requested by the working group. City staff are concerned that it could limit a developer’s option in redeveloping the courthouse. A concern which runs contrary to the goal of maintaining the historic integrity of this nationally important building.

Another working group recommendation omitted in the RFP was investment by the city in the project. It was shown during the group’s meeting that other successful redevelopments of historic properties included community investment—tax abatement, reduced fees, direct investment-- to leverage other investment and show the city’s commitment to a public use. City Council recently approved what equates to a $4.1 million discount to a private developer for the rehab of the old hospital. Yet again there is nothing in the RFP committing any city support for the restoration of a nationally historic building and to meet the community’s goal of continued public use.

The draft RFP was presented to the Council at its June 23 work session as a completed document. Staff stated that it met all the goals of the working group with no mention made of the concerns submitted by HFFI. Only one question was asked by the council relating to the cost of rehabilitating the courthouse. The answer given, which came as a surprise to many as there is no plan to evaluate, was $20 million. What was the point in pulling a number like that out of the air other than to cast doubt on the feasibility of a public-private partnership in achieving the city’s goals for the Renwick Courthouse?

The reason for City Hall’s actions is simple. It just wants to sell the building and be done with it. The RFP as written shows no real commitment on the part of the city to preserving the city’s historic character. What it looks to accomplish is-- how do we make it easier for developers. And they seem prepared to do what is necessary to get to that point. Present unsubstantiated cost figures, avoid putting in place what they view as restrictions—public use, historic designation-- on the eventual sale of the property. And most importantly avoid investment in the city’s historic character. All efforts to abandon the goal of preserving the courthouse and maintaining public use. This RFP was drafted to ensure that the preservation and public use of the Renwick Courthouse fails.

HFFI Letter to City Council with Renwick Timeline:
https://hffi.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/2026.05.28_HFFI-CityCouncil_PreservationMonthLtr_FINAL.pdf

Renwick Courthouse Information:
https://hffi.org/celebrating-the-renwick-a-courthouse-fan-page/

07/31/2026

THOUSANDS OF GALLONS OF CITY SEWAGE DUMPED IN RAPPAHANNOCK A DOZEN TIMES THIS YEAR

Once again, more great work by The Advance. They let you know what your city doesn't. Keep reading.

THE FXBG ADVANCE FRIDAY 7/31/26 MORNING READ

07/30/2026

YOUR SECRET GOVERNMENT AT IT AGAIN

COUNCIL MEETS BEHIND CLOSED DOORS WITH CELL TOWER BUILDER

After meeting in secret with the builder, new City Councilman Matt Rowe appeared surprised none of his constituents expressed concerns about a proposed new cell tower in their neighborhood.

When questioned by The Advance Editor Steve Watkins, Matt Rowe said, “As for safety and property value concerns, I have received no correspondence from residents with these particular concerns or other issues they may have with the proposed cell tower.”

Which begs the question: How are constituents supposed to know about the tower to express their views when all the meetings with City Council were held in secret?

Because a closed executive session of the entire Council would not pass muster with Virginia’s opening meetings law, Council members met secretly, two-by-two, with the builder, which is not considered a Council meeting and requires no public notice.

Read the Advance story here:

THE FXBG ADVANCE THURSDAY 7/30/26 MORNING READ

07/24/2026

WE NEED TO HAVE A SERIOUS CONVERSATION ABOUT SCHOOL PERFORMANCE.

The Fredericksburg City School Board has begun the process of replacing board member Jarvis Bailey who recently announced his resignation. This would be a good time for a community conversation on a topic the School Board has avoided—school performance and the way forward.

Students from outside Fredericksburg once sought admission to city schools. In 2013, tuition revenue from those students totaled $491,661; today, the budgeted amount is about $34,000. Meanwhile, surrounding school districts now outperform the city.

And even after building three new schools and yearly increases in the school budget, in many cases exceeding the percentage increase in the city’s budget, city schools currently rank 126th out of the 131 public-school districts based on standardized test scores.

Some take issue with using standardized scores as a metric to judge school performance but do not suggest alternatives. However, the reality is that businesses and families look at these scores when deciding where to locate. Our schools affect economic development.

Then there is the most important question of whether we are preparing our children to succeed? This is a critical discussion—What is success? And where is the accountability for achieving, or not, that success?

Contributing to the city schools’ low ranking is a dropout rate of 10%, which is double the state average. The graduation rate is 7% lower than the state average of 93%.

Some have pointed out reasons for these troubling statistics. One is the high percentage, 52.9%, of economically disadvantaged children in the city school system. The state average is 43%. York, James City, Roanoke and Salem have between 45 and 50% economically disadvantaged students but rank in the top 20% of state school districts. How are these districts dealing with this issue?

Another factor brought forward is the number of English Language Learners (ELL) in the city schools, which is around 26.5%, well above the state average of 14.9%. However, high-ranking school systems such as Arlington and Fairfax, and Falls Church have 24% to 37% ELL yet are ranked significantly higher than the Fredericksburg school system. How are these school districts dealing with this issue?

Regarding the impact of school funding, the most successful school systems in the state have per-student funding ratios between $22,000 and $26,500, which is higher than the city ratio of $18,755, but is in line with the state average of $18,771. It is difficult to equate the city’s current performance with funding levels when localities with similar funding are ranked much higher.

The most successful school systems also have median incomes significantly higher than Fredericksburg. Having said that, we believe that many would support increased funding IF it can be shown that such investment will have a positive impact on ALL our children’s school performance. The city has spent millions on new schools, staff, and programs without any significant results. The School Board has claimed that this would turn things around. It hasn’t.

We do not intend to blame any particular group, nor do we claim to have answers to the issues outlined here. These are complex challenges that require an open, honest, and informed discussion. This is a discussion that the School Board continues to avoid and City Council is not prepared to hold them accountable. This must change. That change can begin now with the discussions on the appointment of Jarvis Bailey’s replacement on the School Board.

It is a disservice to our children and to city taxpayers not to address the problems currently facing our schools. As a community we need to become informed and engaged to help identify solutions. And to hold our elected officials accountable for the results.

07/14/2026

DATA CENTERS RAISE YOUR ELECTRIC BILL
This story in the Fredericksburg Advance about how data centers affect your electric bill is worth a read. Don’t miss it.

THE FXBG ADVANCE TUESDAY 7/14/26 AFTERNOON READ

07/14/2026

WILLIAM STREET IMPROVEMENTS—BUSINESS AS USUAL IS NOT ACCEPTABLE

Before the City Council decides to redesign William Street from Sunken Road to Sophia St. It needs to provide city residents with more information than has been provided thus far. Starting with the plans that have already been made to provide pedestrian/bicycle connectivity in the city. Also, the Council’s proclivity for one and done community meetings has got to end. There needs to be more information and more ROBUST community engagement.

When looking at one section of one street, what is being proposed makes sense—pedestrian, bike, transit and lighting improvements, curb extensions and signage improvements. However, when looking at it as it relates to citywide planning, especially as it relates to pedestrian/bike improvements, there are questions. The focus of the Council is bike lanes, which was behind its push to make the street two-way. We need to step back and take a closer look at pedestrian/bike planning for the entire city. Where to begin?

Thousands of dollars, countless hours, and actual community engagement have already been spent on a Bicycle and Pedestrian Master Plan, which was not only adopted by City Council but has also been incorporated into the regional bike/pedestrian plan. Unfortunately, these plans have not been part of the current discussion. Why not?

Currently, the City Council prioritizes providing bike access down William Street. While it provides better access from the University, how does it help bike/pedestrian access for the rest of the city? What are the safety factors involved with William Street being a significant vehicle artery in the city? How will changes on William Street affect future traffic, especially as South Stafford develops?

The short answer is that what is now being considered by City Council is NOT part of the Bicycle and Pedestrian Master Plan. Regarding downtown access, that plan calls for two routes identified as East-West Connectors. The first component comes down Stafford Ave. to Hanover Street to downtown. The second goes down to Rowe St. in College Heights, over College Ave., through the College and down residential streets off Amelia Street.

The reasons for these routes are to 1) stay off major streets to avoid heavy traffic. William St. has a higher number of bike/pedestrian accidents downtown. 2) More options for traffic calming benefiting both bicyclists and residents. 3) More cost-effective. And 4) These routes are better positioned to tie into other bike/pedestrian trails and provide better access throughout the city. Council needs to explain how its proposal compares with the already approved routes using the same criteria.

We would also suggest providing information on what other communities have done and how. A recent example: during a recent trip to Detroit, I looked at its bike infrastructure. They incorporated alleyways as much as possible to separate bikes from traffic. Fredericksburg has several city alleys that lead toward downtown. Could we incorporate them to provide better, safer pedestrian/bike access downtown? We are throwing that out to get the discussion going.

One other step to consider is to complete another survey of resident interest in the most impactful and expensive component of the plan—bike lanes. They completed the last survey as part of the regional plan in 2018. Here is the breakdown:

7% of respondents were prepared to bicycle in any environment.

5% of respondents would consider biking if the infrastructure were in place.

51% of respondents had safety concerns regarding biking

37% of respondents were not interested in or unable to bike ride

They need to update the survey and make it city-focused. Planning staff and Council members have an obligation to consider all views during the planning process and when deciding how to prioritize tax dollars. It is important that residents have all questions answered and concerns addressed—not ignored and/or berated. But before engaging residents, the City Council needs to provide them with the complete picture. Especially as it relates to bike and pedestrian improvements.

After a single public meeting on plans for turning William Street to two ways and extending bike lanes the Council went silent. After one public meeting on the current plan for improvements to William Street and again silence. This is not community engagement.

We have included the links to the city and regional bike/pedestrian plans below. There is a lot more information that City Council needs to provide residents to evaluate this project and in a broader context. They also need to put together a much more robust community engagement effort beyond just what is required. And they need to listen to residents and act on their feedback. Do not dismiss it because it does not meet a particular narrative.

Regional Bike/Pedestrian Plan
https://fampo.gwregion.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/Appendix-C-ATP.pdf
A Bicycle and Pedestrian Master Plan
https://www.fredericksburgva.gov/DocumentCenter/View/11943/Fredericksburg-Pathways---A-Bicycle-and-Pedestrian-Master-Plan

07/01/2026

WILL DATA CENTER REVENUES DISAPPEAR AS QUICKLY AS IT ARRIVES?

The following question was recently posted on Facebook—"Someone is going to have to calmly and rationally explain to me why data centers are bad. How does one deny a $6.10 impact for every $1 of tax exemption?”

Set aside environmental, quality of life concerns, and lack of industry and local government transparency. Let’s focus on the question of today’s financial impact on taxpayers and the potential future impact on tax revenues. It’s not as rosy a picture as the industry and City Council makes it out to be.

There has not been a lot of research on this topic. An AI search found residents, on average, experienced a slower rate of tax growth and better-funded public services. But there is no significant decline in actual real estate taxes.

We looked closing at a locality at the center of data center construction—Prince William County to our north. The local real estate TAX RATE in the decade from 2016 to 2026 dropped about 19.3%—from $1.22 (2016) to $0.906 (2026). During the same period, real estate values jumped 68-70%. The result: HIGHER TAX BILLS. The average annual real estate tax bill recently increased $273. And since 2025, the county actually lowered data center tax breaks to help balance its budget and local residents’ taxes still rose.

Meanwhile, local taxpayers are paying millions for the electrical infrastructure improvements needed to supply electricity to data centers. During the past decade, the average consumer’s electric bill jumped 54%—an increase of $60 a month, which translates to $720 a year. Indications are this should trend continue.

And what are data centers doing to help offset the costs associated with building their projects? Not much. Recent action by the General Assembly only has the Data Center industry cover a small fraction of the cost leaving taxpayers responsible for the rest.

And data center projects are still getting large tax breaks to locate in a community. Do they need them to become profitable? No. Local governments hand out tax breaks like candy in a desperate attempt to make data centers local commercial taxpayers.

It’s time to evaluate the true cost of data centers to a locality instead of just looking at the tax revenues they generate for a single jurisdiction. Do we want to put the long-term financial security in the hands of a single industry? Who will ultimately have to pay for those increased services when data center review begins to decline?

Inform Fredericksburg in partnership with the Sierra Club hosted a series of panel discussions that included data center industry representatives. They acknowledged technological advancements and the market will bring about significant changes in the next five to 10 years. We've been told a data center in the city is at least 5-years out.

Increased computer chip memory capacity, improved cooling technology, and businesses wanting to control their own data, will lead to smaller data centers. And now the industry is investigating data centers in outer space where there are no cooling or electrical concerns.

A recent piece in the industry publication, Techspot, examines this trend. Click the link below to read it. A good analogy is data centers will evolve from a room full of expensive computer banks, to a laptop. Since local tax revenues come from taxes on all of those expensive computer servers, what happens when they’re no longer needed? Are we left with gigantic, vacant buildings towering over residential neighborhoods paying little in taxes?

A presentation at a Henrico County housing conference made clear that county designated data center revenues to only one-time capital improvement projects. That’s smart. They’re concern is committing future revenues to recurring annual operating expenses. They don’t know how long the tax revenue stream will endure. City Council and staff talk about how they will spend future data center tax revenues on operating expenses, such as new teachers and police. What happens if the revenue dries up as quickly as it arrived?

Data centers do generate local tax revenue, but that’s all we hear from City Council. There are enough disturbing and unanswered questions to begin an honest conversation. We need a calm and rational approach to ALL of these issues. Unfortunately, indications are, local officials and industry representatives will continue to not want to talk about any of this—especially not with their constituents.

Techspot--Why the future of data centers might be smaller than you think
https://www.techspot.com/news/110940-why-future-data-centers-might-smaller-than-you.html