A three-judge appellate court panel on Sept. 16 ruled in favor of defendants Stanley Martin Homes and Prince William County in a legal challenge against the Devlin Technology Park rezoning, dismissing the complaints of seven Bristow-area residents and upholding a prior Circuit Court ruling.
The appellants – neighbors William and Stephanie Caparoula, Megan Carey, Vashon Citizen, Jan and Thomas Ellison and Michael Phillips – sued the Board of County Supervisors and Stanley Martin over what they deemed to be an improper approval process.
In her opinion, Virginia Court of Appeals Judge Lisa M. Lorish – on behalf of the three-judge panel consisting of judges Stuart A. Raphael, Lorish and Steven C. Frucci – determined the residents’ challenge to be insufficient because the board’s actions were not “arbitrary and capricious”; were all “fairly debatable”; and “did not constitute illegal spot zoning.”
“Here, the board’s zoning action satisfies the ‘fairly debatable’ standard because the evidence in the record permits ‘objective and reasonable persons to reach different conclusions’ regarding its decision to approve the rezoning,” the ruling stated. “Because the record contains evidence of reasonableness, we may not substitute our judgment for the elected board’s legislative zoning decision.”
Matthew Westover, an attorney representing Stanley Martin Homes, declined to comment on the ruling. A county spokesperson and an attorney representing the residents also did not immediately return InsideNoVa's requests for comment.
The board in November 2023 approved the rezoning of 269 acres on the county’s western half to allow for 4.2 million square feet of between seven to nine data centers northwest of Devlin Road that would be directly adjacent to hundreds of homes.
The project experienced a troubled approval process, with several delays and opposition from nearby residents who resisted the inclusion of a data center complex in a residential neighborhood. Developer Stanley Martin had initially proposed building 551 single-family homes on the three parcels but then purchased them outright for over $50 million and switched gears to a data center, leaving behind the homebuilding plan.
In November 2023, shortly prior to the board’s final public hearing, Stanley Martin agreed to a proffer amendment consisting of a dedication of 85 acres – or about 31% – out of the property’s 270 total acres for park land available to the public. There was also a $5 million contribution to the board for maintenance of that park.
Following public comment at the Nov. 28-29, 2023, public hearing, the park and monetary contribution provisions were stripped from the proffer – and the residents alleged these last-minute changes violated county ordinance, arguing the introduction of new data centers would harm their property values.
The ruling placed the burden of delineating a substantial change – in this case, the park proffer – on the board, adding “The board determines what constitutes substantial change … And at a minimum, it is fairly debatable whether the changes to the proffer at the November 28 public hearing were substantial in the context of the overall project.”
Ultimately, the court deferred to the board’s actions and sustained the demurrer motions filed by the county and Stanley Martin, which claimed the residents did not have a sufficient legal claim.
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