Prince George’s County officials have temporarily halted data center development projects countywide amid criticism over development plans at the old Landover Mall site.
County Executive Aisha Braveboy signed an executive order on Monday that delays the approval process for data centers until Dec. 31. The next day, the county council voted unanimously to pause data center development projects in the county for six months.
The measures came after residents voiced concerns over the county’s approved plans in March 2024 to turn the vacant Landover Mall site into a large data center.
As of Thursday, more than 20,000 people have signed a petition urging the county government to halt the project in Landover and to improve community engagement about future data center plans.
Data centers are physical facilities used to store computer systems and manage online information. Former county lawmakers who supported the development of data centers said they improve the county’s economy and create jobs.
Taylor Frazier, a Landover resident who started the petition, told The Diamondback she opposes the centers’ development because of their negative environmental impact. Research by the Environmental and Energy Study Institute found that the centers use millions of gallons of water a day to keep their technology cool and produce high carbon emissions.
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In the petition’s description, Frazier wrote that the decision to move forward with the Landover project was made with “minimal transparency” toward county residents. Approving the data center without properly consulting the community is “unacceptable and must be revisited,” she wrote.
“Prince George’s County must adhere to transparent processes and prioritize community engagement in local developments,” Frazier wrote. “Our right to be informed and to have a say in our living spaces must be respected.”
In 2021, the council passed legislation allowing the county planning board to approve data center projects without requiring council review. This allowed the Landover project to proceed without community input.
The council established the data center task force in February to examine community concerns and provide development recommendations, according to task force representative and District 6 council member Wala Blegay.
“We have determined that there are a lot of infrastructure issues that need to be addressed before any data center is actually approved,” Blegay said.
Blegay said high electricity and water usage are the biggest issues the task force sees as a setback. But despite concerns about the data center, Blegay said developing a larger facility would increase tax revenue for the county amid financial hardship from layoffs.
“Most of our revenues come from residential [taxes],” Blegay said. “People want a tax cut, especially when we’re dealing with a lot of people laid off. If we start to see foreclosures, we are in trouble.”
Blegay told The Diamondback that the council began to discuss measures to delay data center development in June, but the resolution only passed this week due to the council’s summer break.
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During Tuesday’s council meeting, District 5 Council member Shayla Adams-Stafford, who represents Landover and has opposed the data center project, voiced her appreciation for the council’s willingness to listen to her constituents’ concerns.
Frazier also attended the meeting to thank the council members for listening to community concerns.
“It makes me really proud of where we are as a county,” she told The Diamondback. “It makes me feel like the community’s voice can be heard, and that if we take our time to research the issues and stand up, we can make change in the county.”
