Goochland County’s proposed zoning amendments would make the Technology Overlay District the only area where future data centers could be located. Within the district, data centers could be approved by-right in the northern and central areas, without a separate public approval process. The proposal would also establish setbacks, buffers and noise limits, though some of those standards would have exceptions.
The county adopted the five-mile Technology Overlay District in November 2025, with the Board of Supervisors approving it by a 4-1 vote, according to Goochland County. As reported by the Henrico Citizen, the overlay is less than one mile from some Goochland and western Henrico neighborhoods. Short Pump, which has about 28,000 homes and 10 schools, is a few miles from the district. The proposed amendments would divide the district into North, Central and West zones and explicitly prohibit data centers outside its boundaries.
A Corridor Built for Growth, Now Facing Blowback
County Administrator Jeremy Raley has said Goochland designated its eastern end as a prime economic zone through years of comprehensive plans and rezonings, and that data centers first entered the county's public discussion in August 2024, per the Henrico Citizen's reporting. Eastern Goochland already has public water and sewer, roadways, fiber-optic cable and proposed transmission lines, while the Mosaic 55+ community and the Readers Branch neighborhood were approved through rezonings back in 2018.
That infrastructure and the by-right approval pathway have combined to draw serious developer interest. Google has expressed interest in a 1,200-megawatt data center in the Technology Overlay District's central zone, alongside western Henrico, and the Henrico Citizen's reporting says that project would be eligible for by-right approval if it proceeds. Separately, Richmond BizSense reported that Google is considering a roughly 1,000-acre campus at West Creek Business Park, though the company has not committed to purchasing the land or submitted a site plan. BizSense also reports that the existing overlay district and its accompanying Technology Zone span about five miles along Route 288, from Interstate 64 south to Patterson Avenue, bordered to the west by Hockett Road, covering roughly 4,400 acres.
How Google's Name Surfaced
The Henrico Citizen reported that an unsealed non-disclosure agreement identified Google as the developer behind the 1,200-megawatt central-zone project. Deputy County Administrator Sara Worley said she had signed two data-center NDAs, later forgotten about them and considered the associated projects inactive. She said she believed her July 2025 answer about active projects was no because she had not spoken with those projects for months. Separately, Tract completed a pre-application for a conditional use permit for a 900-megawatt data center in the overlay’s west zone near Mosaic, according to the same reporting.
Setbacks, Buffers and Noise Limits on the Table
The proposed amendments would set 300-to-500-foot setbacks and 250-foot vegetated buffers between data centers and surrounding properties.
Noise limits are also part of the package: the amendments would cap sound at 55 dBA and 65 dBC along a property line adjoining residential zoning or residential mixed-use development, per Goochland County's ordinance documents. Those limits would not apply to construction sounds, emergency diesel-generator operation or generator testing, which are excluded from the proposed caps. The amendments would also require data centers to use public water and sewer unless a property already has an adequate supply of its own, and the overlay district's standards would supersede provisions of underlying zoning districts whether those provisions are more or less restrictive.
What Statewide Research Says About Power Costs
Virginia’s JLARC found that electricity load growth is expected to increase system costs, with some effects directly attributable to large new loads such as data centers, according to the Virginia Data Center Study. The study also found that current rates appropriately apportion costs to the customers responsible for them and that its analysis found no historic cost shifting. These are statewide findings, not measurements of impacts from proposed Goochland projects. The study examines statewide electricity demand and cost allocation.
Residents Say the Math Still Doesn't Work
Hundreds of Goochland and Henrico residents attended a Goochland High School meeting Tuesday evening, where nearly 30 people spoke during public comment, according to WTVR. At that and other meetings, residents raised concerns that the proposed setback and noise rules would not adequately protect nearby homes. The Henrico Citizen reported that Courtney Dare objected to the exclusion of construction noise from the limits, citing the potential for construction to last five, seven or 10 years. Ann Kent questioned the compatibility of a hyperscale data center less than 500 feet from homes, while Arnold Rosenberg urged the county to take community concerns into account.
No data centers have been formally approved for any projects within the Technology Overlay District, the Henrico Citizen reports, and Goochland County has emphasized that adoption of the overlay district and technology zone does not approve any specific project — proposed development must still meet applicable requirements and review processes. The frustration in Goochland echoes concerns raised elsewhere in the region: at a separate forum in Chesterfield, hundreds of residents questioned Google, Dominion Energy and other industry representatives about transparency, electricity costs and environmental impacts, according to Axios. Axios also reported that Henrico residents are fighting at least four proposed data centers in neighboring Goochland, including a nearly 900-acre campus along Patterson.
More Projects, More Scale
The West Creek proposal isn't the only large project under discussion in eastern Goochland. BizSense reported that the area has drawn Google's potential 1,200-megawatt project, a 600-megawatt project proposed on roughly 150 acres off Ashland Road, and a 200-megawatt project east of Route 288 and north of Patterson Avenue. A separate Tuckahoe Technology Park has also been proposed in Goochland as a 900-megawatt project with seven buildable areas spread across 872 acres, according to the Richmond Times-Dispatch.
A Lawsuit and a Looming Deadline
The existing Technology Overlay District also remains the subject of a legal challenge. Goochland County says that after an October 20 hearing, three of the lawsuit's original nine claims remained for the court to consider; Judge Sanner did not rule at the hearing and said he would issue a written opinion, with no timeframe provided, per the county.
Meanwhile, the regulatory clock on the new amendments is already ticking. The county says the Planning Commission now has until January 22, 2027, to consider and provide a recommendation on the proposals. The Henrico Citizen reports the Planning Commission will hold a public hearing on the amendments on December 16, with the Board of Supervisors expected to hold its own public hearing and vote in February 2027 if the amendments proceed that far.
