1. Why do we need data centers? 

A data center is the physical location of the internet/cloud. Data centers provide the secure environment required to ingest, process, store, and distribute massive volumes of data for applications ranging from cloud computing and AI training to corporate telecommunications, personal data and photo storage, and streaming services. 

​

2. How will you protect the Monocacy River while all of Frederick County is in a moderate drought condition?

Water resources, including the Monocacy River, are protected in the City by robust stormwater regulations that ensure compliance with the Clean Water Act. As part of the development review process, any proposed development will need to comply with the City’s stormwater regulations.

 

The City also relies on four treated water sources: the Monocacy River, Linganore Creek, Fishing Creek Reservoir, and the Potomac River. These sources are regulated by the Maryland Department of the Environment (MDE) through Water Appropriation and Use Permits, which include provisions for safe yields and low-flow conditions. In addition, the City maintains a 50-million-gallon reservoir that supplies the Lester Dingle Water Treatment Plant.

 

3. Why aren't you waiting until Maryland's Data Center Study is completed before moving forward, since its conclusions likely will affect your proposed project? 

Trammell Crow Company is working on our own fiscal impact analysis, which will provide more relevant information regarding data centers in the City of Frederick than a statewide report without a local focus.

 

4. What is Frederick’s projected tax revenue from data centers over the next 20 years, and what incentives, if any, are expected to be offered during that same period?

The Fiscal Impact Study prepared by Sage Policy Group for Nexus at Frederick Commerce Center projects that data center buildout at Nexus would generate approximately $14M in annual property tax revenue for the City. The City will determine what, if any, incentives are offered to data centers.

 

5. How often would the generators be power tested? Or what is the industry best practice to do so? 

The industry best practice is for each generator to be exercised for approximately 15-20 minutes once a month.

 

6. For the Frederick city proposed data center, where are they proposing to source the water? 

Trammell Crow Company is currently seeking approval for a zoning text amendment that would allow data centers on these properties. The next step is a site plan, during which Adequate Public Facilities (APFO) testing is completed to ensure that municipal systems are adequate, or improved by the developer to be adequate to accommodate the proposed project. During this phase, the exact source or sources of water will be determined.

 

More broadly, the City’s treated water supply comes from four sources: the Monocacy River, Linganore Creek, Fishing Creek Reservoir, and the Potomac River. These sources are regulated by the Maryland Department of the Environment through Water Appropriation and Use Permits that include safe yield and low-flow protections. The City also maintains a 50-million-gallon reservoir supplying the Lester Dingle Water Treatment Plant.

 

7. What are your plans to address urban heat island, climate change effects, and water use? 

Trammell Crow Company is currently seeking approval for a zoning text amendment that would allow data centers on these properties. During the future site plan process, specific environmental design components and mitigation measures would be identified.

 

Existing local and state regulations related to stormwater management, lot coverage, landscaping, and environmental impacts would also apply to the project. Approximately 75 acres of afforestation have already been planted within Frederick Commerce Center, with an additional 20 acres required for future development. Landscaping requirements, additional plantings, material selections, and other heat island mitigation strategies would also be evaluated as part of the permitting and review process.

 

8. How will having data centers in Frederick County benefit local tech organizations? 

Data centers create a variety of jobs and career opportunities within the tech community, including IT professionals, technicians, electricians, as well as other industries that service data center properties, including security professionals, and building system monitoring firms.  

 

9. What happens if they don’t get built? 

Trammell Crow Company acquired these properties with the intent of developing an industrial park with warehouse/logistics space or other development allowed under the M1 Light Industrial zoning, and that remains a viable plan in the event data centers are not built.

 

10. What is the land use policy? 

The properties are currently zoned M1 Light Industrial. 

 

11. Data centers have limited life spans. What happens to the land when the data center is no longer viable? Who will ensure the land can be reused, and the water system replenished? 

First, there is no evidence that data center development is any more vulnerable to not being in operation than any other use in the City. Over the course of any building’s life, the owner will make business decisions about renovating, replacing, and redeveloping the existing building and property. There are already regulations in place for environmental protection for this and every other use in the City, including local, state, and federal regulations related to air, land, and water impacts; it is the responsibility of the owner to comply with these regulations, and the owner’s cost to do so as well.