Dear Senator Petersen,

I am writing you concerning the bills you introduced concerning data center placement.

My name is Page Snyder and my 5 sisters and I own and live on Pageland Farm on Pageland Lane. Our farm is located across the road from MNBP and a small, forested portion adjoins Conway Robinson State Forest. My family has owned the farm for 5 generations, and my sisters and I are all in our 70’s and 80’s. Our family has toiled and worked the land for decades, and we’ve either broken even or operated at a loss. Our children and grandchildren have absolutely no interest in the farm.  

My family was instrumental in the acquisition of Brawner Farm (across the road from us) for the MNBP. When Brawner was privately owned, there had been many attempts to develop it for things such as an auto racetrack and others.

When MNBP made the decision to allow Dominion to place their behemoth high tension power lines on MNBP land (Brawner) and through farms on Pageland my family fought that decision and lost. These power lines forever negatively changed that part of the park and have been not only an eyesore but have had a significant detrimental effect on our farming operations, especially to livestock.

Then we were faced with the State’s plan to build the BiCounty Parkway also through Brawner and through Pageland Farm and neighbors (using eminent domain). Our neighbors and my family fought that battle, at great personal and financial expense, and were able to defeat it. MNBP also supported the BCP and were willing to sacrifice Brawner Farm for its location within the Park boundaries.

Recently, a huge data center complex (Gainesville Crossing) was approved and is currently under construction. It is directly adjacent to the MNBP across Pageland Lane and directly across from Conway Robinson State Forest on 29 and the entrance to Heritage Hunt. It is less than a half mile from Pageland Farm. Other than us, there was no opposition to Gainesville Crossing from Heritage Hunt or any other neighbors. The MNBP did not object, even though it bordered their land. The only things the Park got out of it was a $25,000 donation and the protection of the Dunklin monument.

Times have changed radically in the last ten years. Along with the power lines, Pageland Lane is being squeezed by residential development and has become a high speed cut through for commuter and truck traffic, often with backups a mile long. The same congestion, and worse, exists along 29 through the MNBP. from Pageland Lane to the Stone House on 234. MNBP, in their Master Plan, wants to close this section of 29 to through traffic. The Park acknowledges that the expansion of 2 lane Pageland into 4 lanes, paid for by the Data Centers, will help them achieve this goal, just as they supported a few years ago with the BCP. This time, however, the expansion of Pageland Lane will not include Park property.

I don’t think you have the full picture of what these data centers are proposing. The PWDG has submitted site plans that set a new and highest standard for historical, viewshed, buffers, and environmental protection. I would advise you to look at these for yourself. Pageland Farm has 40 acres of dense forest separating the entirety of Heritage Hunt from the data centers who have agreed to leave the forest intact and undisturbed and available as a trail network for the public. We have asked to meet with the Heritage Hunt community since the inception of the plan, and they have refused all overtures. We have met several times with the MNBP and are working collegially with them to make the PWDG a win win for all of us.  

Prince Willliam County has always been a second-class county to Fairfax and Loudoun. We have an unacceptably low commercial tax base, and a burgeoning population requiring services. We have been overly dependent on residential taxes, unlike Fairfax and Loudoun. We have many unmet needs as well as unfunded projects and initiatives. I often think that Fairfax County wants to keep us down and ‘in our place” and not threaten their exalted and privileged position.  

You have heard from the opposition, and many of the things they are claiming are untruths and gross exaggeration designed to incite and instill fear. We would hope that you would give us the same consideration and our Pageland neighborhood would like to meet with you so that we can provide you with a fuller picture.

My sisters and I, as well as the other farmers on Pageland, have no future in farming. Some of us have owned our farms since the 1800’s and we are all senior citizens now without the physical ability or desire to try to maintain our farms. It is distressing to us that you and others have not considered our plight and our property rights. It is dismaying to me that so many expect us to retain and keep up our farms for their enjoyment with no cost to themselves. It is easy to say we should maintain the status quo yet not look at the personal costs to and the rights of the elderly farmers on Pageland…and to ignore the enormous benefits that the PWDG will bring to our county and its residents.

Sincerely, Page Snyder

(Editor’s Note: The comments expressed in this article are those of the author only and do not represent PW Perspective, LLC or its subsidiaries.)