Goochland County's Data Center Zoning Overlay Faces Key Court Test

Zoning & Land Use Pending
Date
October 20, 2026
Added to tracker
October 26, 2026
Court or forum
Goochland County Circuit Court, Virginia
State
Virginia
Amount / scale
4,400-acre Technology Overlay District; $250,000 county legal defense budget
Parties
Defendant: Goochland County, VirginiaDefendant: Goochland County Board of SupervisorsDefendant: Goochland County Planning Commission

Four Goochland, Virginia residents suing to void a zoning overlay that allows data centers in the West Creek business park reached a pivotal hearing in Goochland Circuit Court.

Four Goochland County, Virginia property owners sued the county, its Board of Supervisors, and its Planning Commission in December 2025 to void the Technology Overlay District (TOD), a roughly 4,400-acre zoning overlay -- about 3,500 acres of it inside the West Creek Business Park -- that supervisors approved 4-1 in November 2025 to allow data centers, pharmaceutical companies, and biomedical researchers to locate there by right. The case reached a hearing on the county's demurrer in Goochland Circuit Court on October 20, 2026, with county officials expressing confidence the suit will be dismissed; no ruling has been reported as of this writing.

Why it matters

The case tests whether a data-center zoning overlay can be unwound in court over alleged procedural defects in its adoption -- improperly noticed affected properties and same-night substantive changes to the measure -- rather than a challenge to the land use itself. A ruling against the county would be a significant precedent for residents and localities nationally contesting the by-right overlay zoning that has become a common vehicle for siting data centers.

Original source ↗

Part of the Data Center Litigation Tracker: every related matter in one table.

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A lawsuit that has worked its way through Goochland County, Virginia's circuit court since December 2025 reached a significant hearing on October 20, 2026, putting the county's process for approving a data-center-friendly zoning overlay to its most direct test yet. The case, filed by four Goochland property owners against the county, its Board of Supervisors, and its Planning Commission, asks the court to void the Technology Overlay District that supervisors approved in a 4-1 vote in November 2025 -- a zoning measure covering roughly 4,400 acres, about 3,500 of them inside the county's West Creek Business Park, that allows data centers, pharmaceutical companies, and biomedical researchers to locate there by right.

Case timeline · 4 entries Latest: October 20, 2026 — Case reaches a hearing in Goochland Circuit Court on the county's demurrer; county officials express confidence the suit will be dismissed

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