For much of the past year, residents of Frederick County have done a very specific thing, over and over, in packed municipal rooms: they have told their elected officials, plainly, that they do not want any more data centers.
They cited water. They cited the electrical grid and the transmission lines that would have to be strung to serve hyperscale load. They cited noise from cooling systems and transformers that hum through kitchen walls. They cited property values, health risk, and the loss of the rural character that brought many of them to the Shenandoah Valley in the first place.
On July 8, 2026 the Board of Supervisors listened. In a unanimous vote, the board directed staff to prepare a resolution authorizing a public hearing for an ordinance amendment that would remove data centers as an allowed use in all of the county's zoning districts. When the vote landed, the audience — the same residents who had spent months at the microphone — cheered.
“I was ugly crying,” Gainesboro resident Leslie Spencer told the board during citizen comments. “I appreciate it so much. And I love this community so much, and this shows so much dedication and care and stewardship.”