Fairfax County, Virginia, adopted a data-center zoning exclusion on September 10, 2024. Its status in this snapshot is enacted.
The record reads: "Fairfax County Board of Supervisors adopted a Data Centers Zoning Ordinance Amendment on September 10, 2024, requiring a special exception for almost all data centers. The amendment imposes new restrictions on design, setbacks from… (datacentertracker.org)."
Details
| Action | Class | Status | Date | MW threshold | Scope | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Zoning exclusion | restriction | enacted | September 10, 2024 | county-wide | datacentertracker.org |
Jurisdiction type: county. County: Fairfax city. Dataset: datacentertracker. Snapshot August 15, 2026; documented actions, not a census.
Virginia context
Virginia has 29 documented local actions across 27 jurisdictions in this snapshot. At the state level, the state has a tax action (enacted, June 30, 2026), the state has a ratepayer-protection law (enacted), Dominion Energy territory has a large-load tariff (enacted, July 31, 2026), and Dominion Energy (GS-5) territory has a large-load tariff (enacted, November 25, 2025).
A town that says no to a data center gives up local tax revenue, not jobs: one large campus pays $2M to $90M a year depending on the tax regime, against roughly 50 permanent jobs. The parent piece prices it and lists the conditions that beat a ban.