The Chesapeake City Council has rejected a land rezoning proposal for a data center in Virginia.

The rezoning proposal, from Emerald Lake Estates I Inc., received a recommendation of denial from the Chesapeake Planning Commission on May 15, but the final decision lay with the city council.

The council’s unanimous rejection – the vote tally was 7-0 – concludes a five-month process beginning with the initial submission in late January.

The proposal intended to rezone an approximately 22.6-acre land parcel, located on the west side of Centerville Turnpike and south of Etheridge Manor Boulevard, for a 350,000 sq ft (32,000 sqm) data center.

Concerns about the Etheridge Lakes Data Center project pertaining to noise pollution and the potential impact on the environment were raised throughout the application process.

Names and addresses linked to Emerald Lakes suggest the involvement of Precon Marine, a marine contractor specializing in heavy marine construction, waterfront construction, and related services.

Chesapeake is a city on the southern border of Virginia. Though it has little in the way of data centers, many large operators have a presence in the state, concentrated in Northern Virginia and around Richmond.

Grassroots and institutional pushback against data centers has grown as the industry’s presence in Virginia attracts ever more attention. In April, the state Governor, Glenn Youngkin, introduced an amendment to a bipartisan environmental transparency bill to delay its implementation, sparking controversy.