A data center proposal has been rejected by local authorities in Campbell County, Virginia.

The request, filed by Mesh Capital LLC, concerned the rezoning of approximately 57 acres of land located on Richmond Highway and Cabin Field Road for a data center. According to site plans submitted by the applicant, the data center would have consisted of three buildings totaling around 450,000 sq ft (41,806 sqm).

Although the request was unanimously recommended for approval by the county’s planning commission on October 7, its board of supervisors voted 5-2 against the proposal.

Opposition to the data center proposal has been fierce. Many of the concerns expressed related to the impact on local water and electricity infrastructure and the environment, but particular attention was paid to the fact that a data center development would go against planning restrictions, called ‘proffers,’ that were imposed on the property by the previous owner.

The identity of the facility’s proposed end-user is unknown, and little is known about Mesh Capital LLC, the applicant. The company’s representative, Michael Essig, has an address in Norfolk, one of Virginia’s major coastal cities.

Campbell County is located just south of Lynchburg, a city in Virginia’s south-central portion. The county is not a prominent data center hotspot. Most of the state’s data center activity is instead clustered around Northern Virginia, the world’s largest data center market.

Last year, Appalachian Power announced plans to develop a small modular reactor on company-owned property in the county.