Town Council Agrees to Submit Data Center Definition and Prohibition Language to Outside Legal Counsel for Review

The August 3 work session of the Town Council began with consideration of a mural exceeding 60 square feet on the north side of the building facing the intersection of North Commerce Avenue and Manassas Street. The request comes from the Rotary Club of Front Royal and features a whimsical representation of Rotary values.

The Town Council met for a work session on August 3. Royal Examiner Photo Credits: Brenden McHugh

There are currently three trees that would block the view of the proposed mural: two on private property and therefore easily removable, while the third is in the Town’s right-of-way and will require negotiation between the applicant and the Town’s Public Works. The council is inclined to address this item at the August 24 regular meeting.

Also considered were definitions and performance standards for outdoor dining in C-1 (community business district) and C-2 (downtown business district). “This amendment will provide parameters for staff to regulate and permit business owners to provide outdoor seating within the Town’s commercial districts,” the agenda statement reads. The impression received from Planning Director Lauren Kopishke is one of compliance and non-compliance in an area that begs greater control. The requirement that “All furniture, umbrellas, and structures must be temporary, unattached, and easily removable at the end of daily business hours” would apply to both existing food establishments and new ones coming on board.

Planning Director Lauren Kopishke presented the evening’s business to the council.

It gets complicated when a distinction is made between outdoor dining on premises that are the private property of the owner, versus that which is encroaching on the Town’s right-of-way and in some instances imposing on pedestrians the necessity of stepping off the sidewalk into the street to pass. In the case that the premises are privately owned, Councilman Glenn Wood especially is concerned that the requirement could be construed to mean that owners are obligated to remove outdoor accessories at the end of every business day. He sees this as an imposition on businesses, whom the council should be doing everything in its power to assist. Town Manager Joseph Petty explained that the definition and performance standards primarily concern private property, and Kopishke expressed a willingness to revise the content. The mayor stated that this item would be returned for further consideration at the work session on August 10.

For the first time since the June 22 meeting in which the Town Council rejected a restrictive ordinance that would allow data centers and directed the Town Planning Commission to define “data center” versus “technology” and devise language for a prohibition in all zoning designations, the council considered at the August 3 work session the product of the commission’s effort to abide by the council’s specifications. There seemed to be a degree of comfort among the council members with what they saw. However, at the prompting of Vice-Mayor Amber Veitenthal, they reached a consensus that it would be appropriate to submit the commission’s product to outside legal counsel for review. This would put the council on a trajectory to vote on the amendment at the regular meeting in September, still within the 90-day period established on June 22.

According to Veitenthal, there is currently a movement in Richmond to establish a statewide moratorium on data center applications, reflecting the moratorium Front Royal’s Town Council established shortly after June 22. Apparently, Front Royal is ahead of the coming wave. Of course, the council and staff have gone their separate ways on this issue, if not philosophically, at least strategically, as the recommendation received is not favorable to prohibition. It is characterized in a recent staff memo as a significant departure from policy, specifically what is represented in the comprehensive plan. Thus, an adjustment to that plan will be needed.

After agreeing to direct the amendment’s content to the third party, the council convened a closed meeting.

Watch the Front Royal Town Council Work Session of August 3, 2026.