Amazon To Host “Community Open House” On Data Center Development

PRINCE FREDERICK, Md. — Amazon will host an “open house” for Calvert County residents to speak about their approach to data center development and their interest in Calvert.

The event will take place at Calvert Middle School, 655 Chesapeake Blvd., in Prince Frederick on Thursday, March 26. Two sessions will be offered, one at 5 p.m. and another at 6:30 p.m. Anyone who cannot attend in person can view the livestream on the county’s YouTube channel and on Comcast Channel 99 and 1070.

The open house will be constructed as a Q&A. Residents can submit their questions in advance. Multiple questions are permitted.

The county announced the open house on its Facebook page and was quickly flooded with comments, many of which accused Amazon of hosting the event as a “marketing tool” and questioning why there wasn’t more independent review of the project or opposing voices allowed.

Commenters also disagreed with the practice of submitting comments in advance, believing that it gave Amazon an unfair advantage over the citizens who would attend, and allow them to avoid difficult questions.

Residents have been voicing concerns about the data center for over a year, but the conversation heated up in recent weeks when the Board of County Commissioners BOCC began taking more direct action, like creating a text amendment to include data centers in the county’s zoning ordinance. Locals also raised concerns when a job listing was posted for a data center construction manager – even though no such project had been confirmed.

Proponents of the data center say that it can help provide economic security for future generations. But many concerned Calvert residents say data centers’ harms outweigh the economic benefits, citing water usage, air and noise pollution, and rising energy costs.

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