Prince George's Council Passes Bill to Block Data Center at Landover Site

A bill the Prince George's County Council passed Tuesday requires council review of the Brightseat Park application, which council member Shayla Adams Stafford said essentially kills a data center planned near a residential community in Landover.

The council voted in 2021 to remove itself from the approvals process for data centers, a change intended to speed construction. That created the loophole that allowed Brightseat Park to proceed, Adams Stafford said as she explained her vote. "A loophole was created in 2021 that allowed the Brightseat Park (development) to go forward, almost putting a data center in Landover, which is very close to a residential community," she said.

Public opposition to the Landover project grew after 2021, and council members said at the time they had not known about the plans until it was nearly too late. That opposition prompted the county's first data center development moratorium in 2025. Leaders extended the moratorium on new data center development three months before Tuesday's vote. Hiccups in other parts of the pre-construction process have held up the project since 2021.

The bill passed Tuesday requires the Brightseat Park application to return to the county council. Under the new law, data center applications must go through a lengthier process that includes detailed site plans addressing how surrounding land is used, and proposed facilities undergo a more in-depth public review that gives the council a say on every application.