August
7, 2022
The
draft staff report on the Prince William Digital Gateway belies the name of the
Planning Office that produced it.
The report bypasses any serious evaluation of the benefits versus risks, or revenues versus costs, and focuses solely on how to mitigate the proposal’s expected negative impacts. It seems to assume its approval and then goes about suggesting how we might keep the lid on the garbage can.
A recent fiscal impact analysis says that “direct project-specific costs can be readily identified”, yet the staff report makes no attempt to identify them. Where is the estimate of costs such as infrastructure, borrowing, public works, maintenance, and increased government staff, that would result from this project? Forging ahead without a full understanding of project costs may result in many millions of dollars in unanticipated liabilities.
The Planning Office brief to the Planning Commission completely dismissed the effect on the watershed and recently documented noise issues. There was zero mention of needed electrical infrastructure for an obviously power-intensive project, nor of how much data center capacity is already under development despite these questions being raised countless times in public forums.
There was absolutely no consideration of the County’s revised Comprehensive Plan and whether this proposal even fits into the County’s vision. That vision must precede any consideration of this proposal.
The definition of plan is “a detailed proposal for achieving something”. The definition of chaos is “complete disorder and confusion”.
Is it possible to plan for chaos? You’re seeing it.
Bill Wright
Gainesville
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