In September 2021, Amazon Data Services, Inc. (a wholly-owned subsidiary of Amazon.com, Inc.) acquired a 41.7-acre parcel for $39.7 million (~$952k per acre). According to Dgtl Infra, Amazon intends to construct a one-story, 220,000sf data center on the parcel, which sits at the northeast corner of Blackwell Road and East Lee Highway (Route 29) in Warrenton, Fauquier County, Virginia.

In December 2022, Citizens for Fauquier County (“CFFC”) filed a lawsuit “as part of an ongoing effort to obtain public records from the Town of Warrenton, Virginia … relating to the Town’s processing of a proposed special use permit [(“SUP”)] sought by Amazon Data Services, Inc. … to allow it to erect a proposed 220,000 square foot data center. …” The petition demands, in part, that “a writ of mandamus should issue, compelling [Warrenton] to produce [records withheld under a VFOIA exemption].”

According to the petition, “Virginia Code § 2.2-3705.7(2) allows a public body to designate one, and only one, executive officer to enjoy certain exemptions from VFOIA disclosure, and only with respect to the executive officer’s ‘working papers and correspondence.’” The petition asserts that “[b]y using the definite article, the General Assembly’s meaning is plain: the public body may assert the privilege as to only one executive official, whether that executive official bears the title of ‘mayor’ or ‘chief executive officer.’”

The petition states that Warrenton “has improperly asserted the [CEO Exemption] as applying simultaneously to both the Town Managers and the Town Mayor” and that Warrenton’s “construction of the CEO Exemption, if permitted to stand, would deprive the public of important information about the contemplated legislative actions of its own government entirely and for all time.”

According to the Fauquier Times, after a second hearing (held on January 25) regarding the lawsuit, Judge Alfred Swersky said he needs more information before handing down a decision. During the hearing, Judge Swersky indicated that the relevant statute does not provide clarity on which individuals should be exempt from a VFOIA request and stated: “I can’t believe the absence of authority on this. I would have believed it would have come up before this. There is no guidance for it” in the statute, according to the report.

The petition is also available here.

Last Updated on February 4, 2023 by Ramin Seddiq