The Board of Supervisors voted Thursday to overturn a controversial Planning Commission decision to grant a permit to AT&T that would have allowed telecom giant AT&T to expand a "telephone transmission utility substation" on the top of Short Hill Mountain.
Supervisors voted 8-0-1 with Supervisor Suzanne Volpe (R-Algonkian) absent. The board's vote comes after AT&T announced it was withdrawing its application and suspending construction of the facility.
The site drew intense scrutiny from the community and county officials who accused the site of being a data center -- a facility not permitted in western Loudoun -- or possibly a government security site.
Supervisor Geary Higgins (R-Catoctin) said he found at least eight instances where the facility did not comply with the county's comprehensive plan and called Short Hill Mountain and Blue Ridge “assets” that should not be compromised.
