Neighbors push back on Hanover data center developer over noise near Humane Society

HANOVER COUNTY, Va. — Large crowds turned out for a community forum Thursday night as residents confronted data center developer Oppidan over its plan to build two warehouses and a private road just feet from the Hanover Humane Society's back door.

The forum was designed for Oppidan to address public concerns surrounding the proposal to build two warehouses near a data center already approved by the county. With a private road planned close to the shelter's back entrance, most of those who took to the microphone wanted to know what Oppidan planned to do to reduce the potential negative impacts on the dogs.

The crowd was vocal throughout the evening. When a meeting organizer asked attendees not to curse inside the church where the forum was held, one audience member shouted back, "Jesus would've flipped your tables!"

Community members were direct with the developer, and one attendee's remarks drew applause from the room.

"If you were good neighbors, we wouldn't have to do this," an audience member said.

A developer representative acknowledged the mood in the room: "I understand this is an emotional issue," the representative said.

Others in the crowd took aim at the developer's mitigation plans.

"You don't have any sound barrier wall, you don't have an adequate enough buffer," an audience member said.

WATCH: Hanover Humane Society says data center noise is causing dogs pain, warehouse plan raises new alarms

Earlier in the week, Andrew Paine with the Hanover Humane Society showed me just how close the road, which the shelter says will be traveled by large trucks if the warehouse proposal is approved, is to a trail the shelter uses to de-stress dogs. Paine pointed out that construction noise from the nearby data center already disturbs the animals.

Oppidan had first responded to the Humane Society's concerns in a statement Tuesday, and again at Thursday's meeting. The developer originally proposed installing a fence, possibly 6 feet in height, a remedy many in the audience felt fell short.

"That vent right there is as high as a tractor-trailer; your barrier wall better be at least as high as that vent by the Humane Society," an audience member said.

Althea White-Previs with the Humane Society addressed the developer and thanked the community for its support.

"Sorry, I didn't expect to be emotional, so thank you guys for standing up for us," she said.

White-Previs then made a direct ask of Oppidan.

"Though you have the right on the data center property to do what you choose, I would really like to ask you before we meet, come to us with something that's respectful. A six-foot fence is not enough; we have animals that are already being affected," White-Previs said.

With audience members also suggesting Oppidan move the road entirely, the developer's representatives said they were open to doing more and plan to meet with the Hanover Humane Society in the near future.

"We want to do everything we can to make sure that they continue to operate. This is why we have this meeting," an Oppidan representative said.

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