A proposed agreement for a massive data center campus in Frederick County, Maryland, would provide more than $110 million for schools, parks, workforce programs and other community projects, while reducing the development’s size and water consumption.

The deal also gives the developer significant long-term protections, creating a debate over whether the county is striking the right balance between economic development and local control.

The agreement involves Quantum Maryland LLC and Catellus Development Corporation, the master developer of the Frederick Digital Campus. The project is planned for the former Eastalco aluminum-smelting site, which has been idle since 2010. County Executive Jessica Fitzwater announced the agreement September 1. It still requires approval by the Frederick County Council.

The financial package is unusually large for a data center development. It allocates $30 million to renovate Carroll Manor Elementary School, while $40 million would support recreational facilities, including $30 million for Adamstown Regional Park. Another $14.5 million is slated for workforce development and career and technical education, and $10.5 million would support agricultural land preservation.

Additional commitments include $10 million for landscaping around the campus, $5 million for a community solar project designed to lower energy bills for Adamstown residents, and $1 million for a new fire engine for the Carroll Manor Volunteer Fire Company.

Those payments could be dwarfed by the campus’s long-term contribution to county revenue, according to the developer. Catellus projects that the completed development will generate about $215 million a year in county taxes and fees and support 9,800 ongoing jobs. One estimate puts that revenue contribution at roughly 40% above the county’s current tax base.

The developer has also agreed to shrink the project. The previously approved campus called for 18.3 million square feet of development, but the new plan reduces that figure to 15 million square feet. Potable water consumption would fall by 80% after a reclaimed-water system becomes operational.

An Important Condition

The financial and environmental concessions come with an important condition. Under the proposed Development Rights and Responsibilities Agreement, or DRRA, the county would lock in development rules for at least eight years, with the possibility of extending them to 13 years.

The agreement would protect the developer against future zoning or land-use changes that could prevent completion of the campus. Frederick County would also agree not to obstruct applications and approvals covered by the deal and would fund its legal defense of those approvals during the agreement.

That provision has drawn opposition from residents and elected officials who argue that current leaders could restrict the options available to future county governments. Critics have also questioned the transparency of the negotiating process and whether the agreement goes far enough to address complaints about noise and other effects associated with nearby data centers.

Fitzwater has defended the agreement as a way to extract substantial public value from development that already has approval. Catellus says the terms reflect feedback gathered through hundreds of meetings with businesses and community groups.

Bottom line: The unusually large concessions package could point the way for data centers to find support, even as local resistance continues to grow across the country.