Data center restrictions tracker · Virginia

Town of Warrenton, Virginia: data center zoning exclusion (2025)

Data snapshot 2026-08-15 · part of Pricing the Fear of Data Centers

Town of Warrenton, in Fauquier County, Virginia, adopted a data-center zoning exclusion on July 8, 2025. Its status in this snapshot is enacted.

The record reads: "Warrenton Town Council voted unanimously (5-0) on July 8, 2025 to amend the zoning ordinance, striking all references to data centers from Articles 3, 9 and 12, effectively banning new data centers in town. The Planning Commission had… (datacentertracker.org)."

Details

ActionClassStatusDateMW thresholdScopeSource
Zoning exclusionrestrictionenactedJuly 8, 2025not county-widedatacentertracker.org

Jurisdiction type: municipality. County: Fauquier County. Dataset: datacentertracker. Snapshot August 15, 2026; documented actions, not a census.

Elsewhere in Fauquier County

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.

Sources

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