Community coalition raising public awareness of Warrenton data center plans

A coalition of community-based preservation groups is working to raise public awareness of a threat to Warrenton and Fauquier County. Amazon is seeking the Warrenton Town Council’s permission to build a 220,000 square-foot data center on a 42-acre tract adjacent to Country Chevrolet where Route 17 and Routes 15 & 29 converge. In addition to the data center itself, project approval would likely lead to large electrical transmission lines across Fauquier County, as well as a new 8-acre substation.

Approval of this proposal will permanently change Warrenton’s small-town appeal and Fauquier County’s rural character, and significant noise and visual impacts will affect citizens and visitors alike. Citizens and visitors will be greeted by a fifty-foot-high building on an elevated site, right at the eastern entry to Warrenton. The data center and power lines will be visible from many parts of both Warrenton itself and the surrounding countryside. If this project is approved, it would likely be the first of many to come across Fauquier County.

The Virginia Piedmont Heritage Area is proud to join a coalition of preservation partners including Citizens for Fauquier County, the Piedmont Environmental Council, and Protect Fauquier, to raise public awareness of this threat to Warrenton and Fauquier County. The mission of the Virginia Piedmont Heritage Area is to educate about and advocate for the preservation of the extraordinary historic landscape and culture of the five-county Virginia Piedmont Heritage Area for future generations.

For more information, visit www.piedmontheritage.org.