Data Center Census Near me

Wilderness Crossing

Orange County, VA

ApprovedRezoning approved April 2023; preservation groups' challenge allowed to proceed toward trial in September 2025
  1. Rumored
  2. Proposed
  3. Approved
  4. Under construction
  5. Operating

Wilderness Crossing is an approved 2,600-acre rezoning near the intersection of Routes 3 and 20 in Orange County, adjacent to the Wilderness Battlefield, that includes 732 acres of data centers and distribution warehouses alongside more than 5,000 residential units. The Orange County Board of Supervisors approved the rezoning 4-1 on April 25, 2023, and the American Battlefield Trust says Amazon has been behind the proposal since at least April 2022. A lawsuit by preservation groups and nearby landowners survived a motion to dismiss in part in September 2025.

Site size
2,600 acres[1]
total rezoning, mixed use

Key facts

Size & schedule

Site size2,600 acres [1]
total rezoning, mixed use
Source excerpt
“an approved 2,600-acre rezoning and proposed development in Orange County near the intersection of Rt. 3 and Rt. 20 adjacent to Wilderness Battlefield and across from Lake of the Woods”
Site size732 acres [2]
data centers and distribution warehouses portion
Source excerpt
“more than 5,000 residential units, 200,000 square feet of mixed-use commercial development, and 732 acres of data centers and distribution warehouses”
Floor areamore than 30 million [3]
permitted industrial data center and warehouse distribution space after a late increase from five million, per the American Battlefield Trust
Source excerpt
“last-minute six-fold increase in permitted square footage of industrial data center and warehouse distribution building space, from five million to more than 30 million”

How big is that? Data center sizes compared with football fields and Central Park.

Local decisions & site

Deciding voteOrange County Board of Supervisors approved the rezoning 4-1 on April 25, 2023 [1]
Source excerpt
“On April 25, 2023, the Orange County Board of Supervisors voted 4-1 to approve the rezoning request, making it the largest land rezoning in County history.”

Figures are as stated by the cited source. Where sources disagree, each figure is shown.

Water and power

Water

Not disclosed. No source reviewed gives a water figure for this site. The Census does not estimate one.

Power

Not disclosed. No capacity or power-supply figure is on the record.

Disclosed figures only, each as the cited source states it. Many are projections or permit limits, not metered use. How data center water and power use is measured, and every disclosed figure →

Community concerns

Concerns are listed as the cited public sources report them (meeting minutes, dockets, filed cases, official statements and news). They are raised, not validated, and a response is shown beside a concern only where a source reports one. All community concerns →

Land use and zoning

  • Preservation groups and homeowners sued Orange County alleging flaws in the Board of Supervisors' rezoning vote; a court allowed parts of the case to proceed.
    Raised by: lawsuit (American Battlefield Trust) · Sep 17, 2025 · Source: National Parks Conservation Association

Other

  • Advocacy groups said the development next to the Wilderness Battlefield could harm the historic site's integrity.
    Raised by: organization (National Parks Conservation Association) · Sep 17, 2025 · Source: National Parks Conservation Association

Something missing or wrong? Ask for a review. Posts on social media are never used as sources.

Lawsuits

American Battlefield Trust et al. challenge to Wilderness Crossing rezoningpending [4]
Preservation groups and nearby homeowners challenged the Board of Supervisors' rezoning; the court partially denied a motion to dismiss in September 2025.
Orange County Circuit Court · filed 2023
Source excerpt
“partially denied a motion to dismiss”

Timeline

  1. KEG Associates III submits the Wilderness Crossing application [1]

  2. Orange County Board of Supervisors approves the rezoning 4-1 [1]

  3. American Battlefield Trust and allied groups file a legal challenge in Orange County Circuit Court [2]

  4. Circuit court allows four of seven counts in the preservation groups' lawsuit to proceed [2]

Issues raised

  • A Piedmont Environmental Council lawsuit revealed that Amazon has been behind the proposal since at least April 2022, according to the American Battlefield Trust [2]
  • Preservation groups say the development threatens the Wilderness Battlefield [2][4]
  • The Piedmont Environmental Council cites concerns over data centers and distribution centers, taxes, water and sewer infrastructure, traffic and habitat fragmentation [1]
  • The site contains unreclaimed gold mines, including the Vaucluse mine once considered for Superfund listing, according to the Piedmont Environmental Council [1]
  • The American Battlefield Trust and local landowners sued to stop the development, which borders a large data center complex [5]

Issues are concerns and claims raised by the parties, officials or residents named in the cited sources. They are reported as attributed, not as findings by the Census.

Sources

  1. Wilderness Crossing
    The Piedmont Environmental Council · other
  2. Struggle Against Mega-development at Wilderness Battlefield Continues
    American Battlefield Trust · other
  3. American Battlefield Trust, Local Preservation Groups Demand Answers to Hasty, Unlawful Approval of Amazon-Backed Wilderness Crossing Project
    American Battlefield Trust · Dec 1, 2023 · other
  4. VICTORY: Court Rules Lawsuit to Protect Wilderness Battlefield Can Proceed
    National Parks Conservation Association · Sep 17, 2025 · other
  5. Local governments race to attract data centers, often in spite of concerns from their constituents
    Virginia Mercury · Apr 24, 2026 · news

Cite this page

Last updated Sep 22, 2026. Figures may change as records are updated — include the date you retrieved them.

APAData Center Census. (2026). Wilderness Crossing. Retrieved from https://datacentercensus.com/dc/wilderness-crossing-orange-county-va
MLA“Wilderness Crossing.” Data Center Census, Sep 22, 2026, https://datacentercensus.com/dc/wilderness-crossing-orange-county-va.
Linkhttps://datacentercensus.com/dc/wilderness-crossing-orange-county-va

Republishing a figure or table? Attribute it to Data Center Census with a link to this page. The underlying data is downloadable as JSON and CSV; the press kit has standing figures and contact details.