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Data Center Watch Report · ZIP 23803

Petersburg (Dinwiddie side)

Dinwiddie

ProposedZIP 57.7% Blackpop 41,794

Proposed / Under review — "Haven Oak Technology Park" (applicant: Tract); no decision made as of 2026-08-02

Researched: 2026-08-02 · Lead source: Brockovich AI Data Center community map (1 resident report, 2026-07-21) · ZIP demographics: 57.7% Black, pop 41,794 (Census ACS 2023) · County: Dinwiddie (~30% Black per Census ACS, approx.) Status: Proposed / Under review — "Haven Oak Technology Park" (applicant: Tract); no decision made as of 2026-08-02

This report is research, not legal, financial, real-estate, or investment advice.

0. Snapshot

ZIP 23803 covers western/northern Petersburg and the Dinwiddie County side of the Tri-Cities. The live issue here is Haven Oak Technology Park, a proposed data-center campus in Dinwiddie County submitted by a land-acquisition company called Tract, near White Oak Road and Claiborne Road. Part of the site lies within the White Oak Road Battlefield — Civil War earthworks from the 1864–65 Petersburg siege — which has driven visible local opposition ("No Data Center" signs across the county). As of the county's July 14, 2026 joint statement, "no decision has been made," and the application is still in departmental review before any Planning Commission or Board of Supervisors hearing.

Separate governments — don't confuse them:

  • Dinwiddie County, VA — where Haven Oak is proposed (rural, southwest of Petersburg).
  • City of Petersburg (independent city) — separate government; its own data-center pipeline is covered in the ZIP 23805 report.
  • ZIP 23803 straddles the City of Petersburg (majority-Black) and Dinwiddie County. Match the site to the right government before you call (§8).

1. The Facility & Where It Sits

  • Project: Haven Oak Technology Park (data-center campus).
  • Applicant/developer: Tract — a land-acquisition/assembly company that secures and entitles sites for data-center users (verify the eventual end-user/operator; Tract is the entitler, not necessarily the operator).
  • Location: near White Oak Road and Claiborne Road, Dinwiddie County — rural land directly across the road from a preserved section of the White Oak Road Battlefield (managed in part by the American Battlefield Trust). Confederate entrenchments/earthworks run onto the private parcel now proposed for development.
  • Size / MW / building count: not stated in public sources as of 2026-08-02 — request the application materials from the county Planning Department (§8).
  • Proposed preservation measures (per applicant): 100-foot setbacks from earthworks (with limited exceptions for an existing logging road and potential utility crossings), leaving a troop-movement section untouched, and coordinating with the Virginia Department of Historic Resources. Residents call 100 feet inadequate ("33 yards… wouldn't even be a football field").

Where it sits: rural western/central Dinwiddie, on the Black-majority side of the Tri-Cities region and adjacent to a nationally significant battlefield — a combination of environmental-justice and historic-preservation stakes.

2. Public Hearings & Notices

  • Status: Under departmental review. Per Dinwiddie's July 14, 2026 Board of Supervisors / County Administrator joint statement, "no decision has been made." The application is being reviewed by Planning, Engineering, Environmental (U.S. Army Corps of Engineers), Transportation (VDOT), Utilities (Water Authority), and Public Safety.
  • Process ahead: Planning Department review → Planning Commission recommendation and public hearing → Board of Supervisors final vote (the Administrator does not vote). A Dinwiddie Planning Commission regular meeting agenda dated July 8, 2026 is posted on the county agenda center — check whether Haven Oak appears on that or a later agenda.
  • Public notice methods (per county): mailed notice to adjacent property owners, legal advertisement in the Richmond Times-Dispatch, county website postings, and signage on the subject property. Watch for the sign on White Oak Road.
  • Verify: exact case/application number and hearing dates were not captured here — get them from the county Planning office and the Haven Oak Technology Park page on dinwiddieva.us (§8).

3. Power

  • Serving utility: Dominion Energy Virginia.
  • Who pays — statewide: the Virginia SCC's 2025 Dominion biennial review created a new GS-5 rate class for loads ≥25 MW (load factor >75%), effective Jan 1, 2027, with 14-year contracts and minimum payments (85% of contracted distribution/transmission demand, 60% of generation demand) so large loads cover the cost they cause. SCC allowed base-rate increases of $565.7M (2026) / $209.9M (2027), below Dominion's requests, and ordered future large-load cost-allocation proposals. (Inside Climate News; SELC; SCC.)
  • State study: JLARC (Dec 9, 2024) projected Virginia power demand could double within ~10 years, mainly from data centers; new facilities typically draw 100–300 MW. Ask what transmission/substation Haven Oak would require and where lines would run (near the battlefield?).

4. Water & Drought

  • Water supply: Dinwiddie is served from the Appomattox River system (Appomattox River Water Authority / Lake Chesdin) and county utilities. Cooling-water demand and its source should be a central hearing question — request gallons/day and the withdrawal source from the utility review.
  • Drought (2026): As of July 28, 2026, ~68% of Virginia was under drought conditions with statewide drought watch/warning advisories. Dinwiddie (and Prince George) are in the Chowan evaluation region under drought watch/warning; Richmond issued its first voluntary conservation advisory since 2002 on July 1, 2026. (Virginia DEQ; U.S. Drought Monitor.)

5. Population & Who Lives Here

ZIP 23803 is 57.7% Black, pop 41,794 (Census ACS 2023). It combines western/northern City of Petersburg (~76% Black, historically disinvested and fiscally stressed) with rural Dinwiddie County (~30% Black). Haven Oak's parcel is in the county's rural, lower-density area near a battlefield — a setting where a hyperscale campus would be a dramatic land-use change and where opposition has organized quickly.

6. Money — Abatements, Incentives, Jobs

  • Incentives/abatements: not disclosed in public sources as of 2026-08-02. Any fee-in-lieu, machinery & tools tax terms, or performance/jobs agreement would run through Dinwiddie County's EDA and Board of Supervisors. Request the term sheet and any proffers filed with the rezoning/SUP application (§8). Data centers generate large assessed value but few permanent jobs — ask for written, permanent (not construction) job counts.

7. Community Reaction & News Coverage

  • Local outlets: WWBT NBC12 / "12 On Your Side" (covered the battlefield concerns, July 30, 2026), The Progress-Index (Petersburg), Cardinal News, Virginia Mercury, WTVR CBS 6, Richmond Times-Dispatch.
  • Preservation & residents: historic preservationist Zachary Pittard stressed the earthworks' significance; resident Jonathan Dundalow questioned the 100-foot setback. A "No Data Center" yard-sign movement has spread across the county. The American Battlefield Trust holds a preserved portion of the White Oak Road Battlefield directly across from the site.
  • Concerns: destruction of Civil War earthworks, inadequate setbacks, water/power demand, rural character, and transparency of the review.

8. Find Out For Yourself

For Haven Oak → Dinwiddie County, VA (the correct government):

  • Planning & Zoning Department: 14016 Boydton Plank Road, Dinwiddie, VA 23841, (804) 469-4542 (source: dinwiddieva.us Planning & Zoning). Ask for the Haven Oak Technology Park application, case number, staff report, and hearing schedule.
  • Board of Supervisors / County Administration: 14010–14016 Boydton Plank Road, Dinwiddie, VA 23841, (804) 469-4500 (source: dinwiddieva.us/103). Agendas & minutes: dinwiddieva.us AgendaCenter (Board of Supervisors and Planning Commission).
  • County project page & joint statement: dinwiddieva.us — search "Haven Oak Technology Park" and the July 14, 2026 newsflash.
  • Meeting schedule: Planning Commission and Board of Supervisors meet on a regular monthly cycle — confirm dates on the agenda center before attending, and watch for the on-site sign and the Richmond Times-Dispatch legal ad.

For the City of Petersburg portion of this ZIP → City of Petersburg: Planning & Zoning, City Hall, 135 N. Union St., Petersburg, VA 23803, (804) 733-2308.

Power/rates: Virginia SCC, scc.virginia.gov (2025 Dominion biennial review / GS-5 rate class). State study: jlarc.virginia.gov.

Questions worth asking when you call:

  1. What is the Haven Oak case number, and when are the Planning Commission and Board of Supervisors public hearings?
  2. How much of the site overlaps the White Oak Road Battlefield earthworks, and is the 100-foot setback binding or aspirational?
  3. How many buildings, how many MW, and how many gallons/day of cooling water — from what source — during a drought?
  4. What Dominion transmission/substation is required, and would any lines cross the battlefield or nearby homes?
  5. Who is the end-user/operator behind Tract, and what jobs and tax revenue are promised in writing?
  6. What abatements, proffers, or fee-in-lieu terms has the county been offered?

9. If You're Thinking About Moving Here

  • Unresolved: Haven Oak is still under review — nothing is approved. The county says no decision has been made. Outcomes (approval with conditions, denial, or withdrawal) are genuinely open, so this is a good moment for residents to weigh in.
  • Preservation flashpoint: the battlefield overlap makes this contested; expect scrutiny from the Virginia Department of Historic Resources and the American Battlefield Trust.
  • Water/power: active regional drought and a strained Dominion grid; cooling demand is undefined publicly.
  • Rural change: a hyperscale campus on White Oak Road would substantially alter a low-density area — noise, light, traffic, and land-price effects would follow. Visit the site and check the parcel's current zoning before committing.

Not investment or real-estate advice — verify current filings yourself (§8).

10. Sources

All accessed 2026-08-02:

Lead source: resident reports on the Brockovich AI Data Center community map, then independently verified against public records. Research, not legal, financial, real-estate, or investment advice. Some resident-reported pins remain uncorroborated and are labeled as such above.