Data center opponents in the Roanoke Valley are reacting to a vote late Friday afternoon by a regional industrial facilities board that represents six local governments.
According to a news release, Friday’s unanimous vote entered the Western Virginia Regional Industrial Facility Authority into a purchase agreement with Clearview Dynamics, a Delaware-based company that incorporated at the start of 2026.
The site in Wood Haven Technology Park – near the intersection of Interstates 81 and 581 in Roanoke County – is specifically designed for advanced, large-scale industrial and high-tech uses. And opponents are convinced this vote was to approve negotiations for a data center.
Roanoke Vice Mayor Terry McGuire was among the dozens of people that packed the meeting.
“It has been known that were a select few sites in the region that were sort of data center-ready," McGuire said after the meeting. "Wood Haven being one of them, Summit View in Franklin County being one of them, the site in Botetourt. So those have been bandied around as potential sites. I mean, it’s not a secret.”
That’s why so many people turned out and spoke against the idea of building a data center at Wood Haven.
“People are paying attention, they are not stupid at all, and they care a lot about this issue," McGuire said. "And what they saw was Roanoke County go into a closed session to talk about disposition of public property in a regional park, and then they saw Roanoke city do the same, well how many jointly held regional parks are there?And then this body having this meeting on a Friday at 4 o’clock right after that the same week. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to connect some of those dots to be very concerned.”
The Wood Haven sale doesn’t seem to be related to Roanoke City's purchase of the 236-acre former Ole Monterey golf course, which was announced last week. McGuire backed that deal, but says he opposes data center development in the Roanoke Valley, period.
Instead, McGuire said the Ole Monterey site could be used for housing, a mixed-use town center development with commercial and retail, or possibly a third city high school.
