September 16, 2026 | 9:57 am ETAlexis Kramer, East Coast Editor

The world’s largest data center hub is headed for a pause on some facility applications.

Loudoun County’s Board of Supervisors on Tuesday night voted to direct staff to prepare a resolution that would halt consideration of legislative data center applications for up to 12 months. The 7-1 vote, with one supervisor abstaining, came during a five-and-a-half-hour board meetingand after more than an hour of debate on the data center motion.

The move is a setback for developers looking to build new projects in the data center capital of the world, and it could set a roadmap for other localities to work around a legal doctrine in Virginia that effectively does not allow for moratoriums.

“For too long, data center development has moved faster than our land use policies and our ability to address the impacts,” Algonkian District Supervisor Juli Briskman, who originally proposed the motion, said during the meeting.

“Loudouners have repeatedly raised questions about noise, air quality, water, all the new substations and power lines that are encroaching on our schools and our communities, our public spaces, our parks, and the data centers are doing that as well.”

The board would still need to vote on the staff’s resolution before the measure takes effect.

“A moratorium is not allowed in the commonwealth of Virginia,” County Attorney Leo Rogers said during the meeting, adding that the rule applies to both administrative and legislative applications.

But legislative applications, which include rezonings and special exceptions, go to the board of supervisors, which has one year to make a decision.

Rogers said that under Loudoun’s zoning ordinance, the clock starts when it goes to the planning commission, and that the board can pause its consideration for “good reason.” The purpose in this case would be to allow the board to complete Phase 2 of its data center standard amendments, a process that kicked off last year.

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