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The decisions happen at board meetings. Your voice there matters.

Local land-use and budget decisions are made at public meetings that few residents attend. A handful of neighbors who come prepared, with the facts in hand, shape the outcome.

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Short updates when a decision is in front of a local board: what it is, what the budget figures say, and where to speak.

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A budget line, a staff report, a project that stalled, a figure we got wrong. We keep a running source list and we never delete a source.

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Decisions ahead

What's coming up

  • Oct. 14, 2026

    Stafford County Planning Commission: expected vote on four data center campuses along Route 3 (Forest Lane, Simms Farm, Sisson North and Sisson South), about 11 million square feet in all. The applicant's attorney projects about $245 million a year in county revenue at full build-out. The Board of Supervisors decides after the commission. Hoodline, Oct. 10, 2026

  • Oct. 20, 2026

    Loudoun County Board of Supervisors: expected final vote on a resolution formalizing a 12-month pause on new legislative data center applications. LoudounNow, Sept. 16, 2026

  • Oct. 26, 2026

    Manassas City Council: first vote on rezoning 9007 Center Street for a 162-unit apartment building and a 536-space public parking garage in Old Town. The Planning Commission recommended approval unanimously. Potomac Local, Oct. 4, 2026

  • Oct. 26, 2026

    Falls Church City Council: second reading of the zoning amendments for the Virginia Village affordable housing redevelopment. First reading passed 5-2. Falls Church News-Press, Oct. 1, 2026

  • Oct. 27, 2026

    Fairfax County Board of Supervisors, 4 p.m.: public hearing on zoning changes that carry out eight new state laws, including the parking tier for homes within a half-mile of a transit station and a required noise study for data center applications. Fairfax County

  • Late Oct. or Nov. 2026

    Spotsylvania County Board of Supervisors: public hearing and vote on the Crossroads Technology Campus, about 2.2 million square feet of data centers in eight buildings near Route 17 and Benchmark Road. The Planning Commission recommended approval 4-2. The hearing date has not been posted. WJLA

  • Nov. 3, 2026

    Loudoun County: three bond questions totaling $356.6 million, most of it for road projects including the Route 15 bypass at Lucketts and an interchange at Route 50 and Loudoun County Parkway, plus school and public safety projects. Early voting runs through Oct. 31. LoudounNow, June 12, 2026; NVAR, Sept. 18, 2026

  • Nov. 3, 2026

    Fairfax County: two bond questions, $180 million for parks and $75 million for community health and human services facilities. Fairfax City: a referendum authorizing an additional sales tax of up to 1% for school capital projects or public transportation. Fairfax County; NVAR, Sept. 18, 2026

  • Nov. 3, 2026

    Arlington County: five bond questions totaling $264.3 million, including $80 million for schools and $69.7 million for Metro and transportation. Arlington County

  • Nov. 3, 2026

    Spotsylvania County: four bond questions totaling about $401 million, including $237.3 million for schools and $67.6 million for roads. Stafford County: a referendum authorizing an additional sales tax of up to 1% for school construction and renovation. Spotsylvania County; NVAR, Sept. 18, 2026

  • Nov. 13, 2026

    Alexandria: public comment closes on the draft Duke Street Land Use Plan, the corridor's first rewrite since 1992. The draft caps most redevelopment sites at 85 feet and ties taller buildings to committed affordable housing. Planning Commission and City Council hearings are planned for December. Alexandria Brief, Sept. 30, 2026

  • Dec. 1, 2026

    Fairfax County: joint Board of Supervisors and School Board meeting on the fiscal 2028 budget forecast (tentative). Last year's forecast showed a $131.5 million combined gap. FCPS budget calendar; FFXnow, Dec. 3, 2025

  • Dec. 15, 2026

    General Assembly: the Joint Subcommittee on Tax Policy is due to report its recommendations on the data center sales and use tax exemption, which legislative staff valued at more than $1.9 billion in fiscal 2025, ahead of the 2027 session. Cardinal News, Aug. 20, 2026; Holland & Knight, Aug. 20, 2026

  • About Dec. 21, 2026

    Prince William County: the 90-day grace period for filing by-right data center site plans ends. WTOP, Sept. 2026

  • Jan. 1, 2027

    Dominion's new rate class for customers of 25 megawatts or more takes effect. Those customers pay for at least 85% of their contracted transmission and distribution demand and 60% of generation demand, so new large users cover the cost of the capacity built for them. LoudounNow, Nov. 25, 2025

  • January 2027

    General Assembly session opens with 46 data center bills carried over from 2026, among them the bills on the tax exemption, generator emissions and who pays for new transmission. MultiState, Mar. 30, 2026

  • Summer 2027

    Loudoun County: the rewrite of the county's data center standards is scheduled to finish. WUSA9, Sept. 2026

We update this list as agendas are posted. Each item links to the agency notice or local report it comes from; past votes are in the Data Bank. Still pending without a date: Prince William's comprehensive plan studies for Manassas Preserve (up to 2,762 homes) and Catharpin Valley Estates, and Fauquier's Remington Innovation Campus (about 2.2 million square feet on 182 acres).