A Virginia county has cleared a major legal hurdle in its effort to take 11 acres of a farmer’s land for a new public water project, but locals are furious over what they see as an insultingly low offer and another warning sign in the state’s fight over development.
According to a report from The Cool Down, Caroline Circuit Court Judge Dennis Hupp refused to block Caroline County from using eminent domain against farmer Cory Garrett, whose Tidewater Trail property sits along the Rappahannock River.
The county offered Garrett $78,400 for the 11 acres. Garrett’s attorney argued the amount failed to account for lost crops and other impacts from taking the property, but Hupp rejected the claim that it wasn’t a bona fide offer and found the county acted in good faith.
Plenty of Virginians, however, weren’t buying that description.
Over on the Virginia subreddit discussing the report, one user reacted: “Really, 78k is a good for 11 acres. It’s robbery…” Another was even more direct: “In no way is that a good faith offer.”
Others joked that they would happily buy the land themselves at that price, including one commenter who wrote: “I’ll pay 80k in cash today. Let’s do this like a real market. Start bidding.”
The anger isn’t only about the money. The county plans to draw untreated water from the Rappahannock and move it through roughly 35 miles of pipeline to a treatment facility in western Caroline County. State regulators have approved the project to withdraw up to nine million gallons per day.
Data center fears are pouring into the fight
The original legal dispute does not establish that Garrett’s land is being taken specifically for a data center. It’s a distinction that matters.
County officials previously sought permission for up to 13 million gallons per day and included “industrial cooling” in an application, then later removed that language. Local rules also prohibit data centers from using potable water for cooling.
Still, that has done little to calm suspicion among residents already uneasy about the spread of data centers across Virginia.
One commenter asked: “Why can’t we have data center moratorium in VA.”
Another argued the connection remained worrying because of the scale of the infrastructure being created, while others pushed back and said the data-center angle was being exaggerated.
That disagreement may actually be the bigger story. Even when a project is legally defined as public infrastructure, some residents increasingly see new utility capacity through the lens of who might ultimately benefit.
Garrett argued the county’s taking was premature and challenged whether officials followed the proper process. Hupp rejected those arguments, ruling the water project serves a public use and that the county had not acted arbitrarily or fraudulently.
Garrett and his family aren’t necessarily done fighting. After the ruling, Garrett said they were “disappointed in the result” and were evaluating their next steps.
For now, the county has cleared another legal hurdle in its effort to build the Rappahannock water project. But the fight over the Garrett family’s land, the $78,400 offer, and what the massive new water infrastructure could eventually mean for development in Caroline County appears far from settled.
