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From: Sean Cosgrove
Sent: Saturday, January 8, 2022 2:41 PM
Subject: Pageland Data Centers & A Pageland Residents Voice- Please Read
I want to first thank you for taking the time to read my e mail and wish to share why I am in support of the data centers on the Pageland corridor. My wife and I moved to PWC from Centerville in 1993 to the only subdivision on the left side of the entire stretch of Old Linton Hall Road from 29 to 28, a subdivision called Amberly Station. The only thing around us was farmland, Atlas Steel, Joe’s Pizza and a few other small businesses. My wife would have to shop for groceries in Manassas as there were no other options. We watched our children who began their PWC education in first grade through high school bounce from school to school as the maps changed. In 2002 we purchased a small farm off Pageland Lane in Catharpin Farms and 3 years ago purchased the original Alvey farm house behind us. We have now been residents in Cathaprin for 20 years and PWC residents approaching 30.
I share our history with you because it is important for you to know how much change we have witnessed in PWC and most importantly on Pageland Lane. There was a time where I could take my tractor up to Alveys and fuel my tractor up but find myself now unable to do it because I will get hit by traffic. I can’t count the times that I have left our property to turn onto Pageland only to turn around because the road is backed up at times over a mile because of congestion on 29 and 66. We live at the bottom of a hill and my wife is scared of getting rear ended as the traffic speeds over the hill as she is turning. We have had some very close calls. I most of the time have to use Thorton Rd as a cut through to avoid the heavy traffic on Pageland. I have seen our real estate and property taxes rise to a point where in the next year or two I will be paying close to 20K in just real estate taxes alone and I have almost half of my property in land use. Can you only imagine if it wasn’t. We have witnessed the explosion in development all around us and I am extremely concerned about the rise in the cost of living in PWC and the future of our educational system. My family no longer lives in the rural crescent but with the memories of what it once was. We live on a small stretch of road used by thousands as a thoroughfare for commuters and commercial traffic with power lines lining the whole stretch. My children grew up in PWC and now have three children of their own and will be raising their children here. I want the best for my grandchildren and I feel that we need, as responsible individuals to the next generation, to make the right decisions and invest in the future of PWC educational system, road infrastructure, business development and tax relief for our residents.
There is no question in my mind that Pageland lane at some point will be widened to relieve congestion and will be developed. The question is will it be subdivisions like Dominion Valley and Heritage Hunt adding more congestion or data centers that only have 5 cars in their parking lots while generating 700M plus in tax revenue. The data centers would have the least amount of environmental impact as most of the land along Pageland has been farmed for centuries and are already cleared. We need to take advantage of this one time opportunity and look at data centers on Pageland as a pressure relief valve for all PWC residents to help in lowering taxes, improve our school system and make PWC more attractive for outside companies to relocate to PWC and increase employment opportunities within the county.
I understand there is some opposition to the data centers on Pageland but from who? Residents that simply signed a petition because they were misinformed on the facts or simply told to do so because it’s the thing to do? The very same ones that are opposing development from the house they live in that was built on a 1000 acre farm and have only recently moved there? Outside influence from non residents? Our family has vested 30 years in PWC and love our county and if the data centers are approved I can look forward to seeing my grandchildren with a better education and my children with a better future. I have owned and operated a successful business in PWC for 30 years paying BPOL and property taxes and contributing to this county and am proud to be a resident and will continue to be. Just hopefully not on Pageland. I as well as other Pageland Residents look at the Data Center opportunity as our contribution to the future and prosperity of our great PWC.
In closing I ask that you support and pass the Pageland Data Center Corridor for the benefit of all PWC.
Respectfully,
Sean J P Cosgrove