The Prince William County, Va., Board of County Supervisors on Sept. 22, 2026, adopted zoning text amendment DPA2026-00006 as Ordinance No. 26-67. The amendment overhauls the Data Center Opportunity Zone Overlay District (DCOZOD), the area where the county has allowed data centers by right. Bisnow reported that the board voted 8-0 and that the overlay shrinks from 9,698 acres to 3,654 acres, a reduction of about 62%. Citing a Planning Commission report, Bisnow put the newly excluded land at roughly 6,000 acres.
Pending applications get a 90-day grace period, and the final eligibility period closes Dec. 21, 2026. After that, the county says it will prepare and publish an updated overlay boundary map showing the properties that qualified.
What the Board Adopted
The county planning office lists five eligibility pathways for properties that were in the overlay as of Sept. 21, 2026. Four of them had a deadline of the adoption date. The fifth, which carries the 90-day window, covers pending rezonings, special use permits (SUPs), proffer amendments for data center uses, public facility reviews for electric substations, and site plans accepted by county staff for quality control. In an analysis published Sept. 24, the law firm Venable LLP summarized how a property can stay eligible:
- Vested projects. The owner has secured approval for a plan of development, such as a site plan, rezoning or SUP, and has diligently pursued that approval.
- Plans submitted inside the window. A plan of development is submitted within 90 days of adoption and accepted for review. Acceptance occurs once all initial submission fees are paid.
Venable wrote that the amendment "substantially reduces, but does not entirely eliminate" the overlay and "will require most future data center projects to obtain a special use permit (SUP)."
The Vote and the Grace Period
The board debated the length of the grace period at the meeting. Bisnow reported that a motion to cut the grace period from 90 days to zero failed 5-3. The board then adopted the amendment with the 90-day window intact.
Brentsville District Supervisor Tom Gordy said, according to Bisnow: "We need to end by right development of data centers in Prince William County." He also said, "We've got varied perspectives across the community as it relates to what we're doing."
"I'm not a fan of the 90 days, but it is the compromise," Chair At-Large Deshundra Jefferson said. She added that the change "doesn't mean there will never be another data center application ever again."
The adopted window is shorter than the one the Prince William County Planning Commission suggested. When it voted on Sept. 9 to recommend approval, the commission also recommended extending the fifth pathway's eligibility period from 90 to 120 days, according to the county. It further recommended a minimum 500-foot setback between data center structures and existing homes and schools for development qualifying under that pathway. The ordinance text the county cites still references 90 days.
How the Amendment Got Here
The amendment moved from initiation to adoption in a little more than six months, with one pause along the way. The county planning office lists these steps:
- Mar. 3, 2026: The Board of County Supervisors initiated the zoning text amendment with Resolution No. 26-125.
- May 19, 2026: The board directed staff to pause the amendment and postponed a Planning Commission hearing that had been set for June 10.
- June 9, 2026: The board re-initiated a revised amendment with Resolution No. 26-374.
- Sept. 9, 2026: The Planning Commission held its public hearing and voted to recommend approval.
- Sept. 22, 2026: The board adopted the amendment as Ord. No. 26-67.
Context
According to Bisnow, the overlay has let data centers be built without additional approvals since 2016, and the county reduced it once before, in 2019. Land left outside the new boundary is not closed to data centers; as Jefferson said, applications can still come forward, and under the new rules most will need an SUP. The county is also preparing separate rules for the industry. Venable reported that the Planning Director said new data center performance standards, which would apply to all data center development in the county, are coming and that she planned to present them to the Planning Commission in November. The firm's authors questioned that timeline, noting that no details had been released.
What Happens Next
- Dec. 21, 2026: The 90-day eligibility period under the fifth pathway closes, according to the county. As of Oct. 20, 2026, 62 days remain.
- After Dec. 21, 2026: The county will publish the updated DCOZOD boundary map. Venable's authors asked that a draft of the map be circulated at least two weeks before it is officially adopted.
- November 2026 (tentative): The Planning Director's planned presentation of countywide data center performance standards to the Planning Commission, per Venable.
