Demonstration planned to coincide with Prince William digital gateway open house

GAINESVILLE, Va. - The controversy in Prince William County surrounding plans to build a massive data center complex continues.

Residents plan to demonstrate against the Prince William Digital Gateway Tuesday night before an open house hosted by one of the developers.

FOX 5's Maureen Umeh says the controversy surrounding the digital gateway has been going on for months with residents fighting against plans to build the complex

Now as one of the developers, Compass Datacenters, plans to hold a community engagement event Tuesday, residents are pushing back.

The Prince William Digital Gateway will occupy over 2,000 acres of land adjacent to the historic Manassas National Battlefield Park.

Developers like Compass say the gateway will raise an estimated $470 million of annual tax revenue for the county. They say the revenue will significantly reduce the tax burden on county residents and go towards addressing issues like potential school overcrowding and affordable housing.

But many who live in the area don't agree and have been fighting for months to block the data center complex.

Residents of the Heritage Hunt community will hold a rally while Compass holds its informational open house. They accuse the company of lying about their true plans.

Umeh says they claim the data centers will cause harm to the surrounding environment through high energy use and water runoff, and would negatively impact the area surrounding the Pageland Lane area by introducing viewshed, noise, and increased traffic to what has largely been a rural area.

The resident's goal is to stop the development and though unlikely, they are not deterred. Their rally at Bull Run Middle School starts at 6:30 p.m. QTS Data's event is from 6 p.m. To 8:30 p.m. In Woodbridge.