In unincorporated Benton County, data centers require county land-use approval, including Benton County Planning Board approval, conditional-use permitting where applicable, and Chapter VI site-plan review before construction or operation.

New data centers are restricted to designated industrial zoning districts and must meet required setbacks and separation distances from residences, nearby properties, or specified uses.

Applicants must provide required public-hearing and project notice to property owners, residents, and applicable homeowners’ associations within one-half mile, notify the County Judge, and file proof with the county clerk within 30 days.

Before approval or construction, the owner must obtain a baseline sound study from a third-party acoustic engineer, including measurements at eight property-line locations, and submit the required reports within 30 days of completion.

The owner must obtain a noise-attenuation building plan from a third-party architectural or design firm and submit it to the Planning Board and required county officials before construction.

The approved design must incorporate noise-attenuation measures, show all mechanical equipment, and fully screen that equipment on all sides with a building facade or a compatible visually solid fence, screen wall, panel, or parapet wall.

Additions, changes, and expansions of a data center must comply with the ordinance’s noise-attenuation requirements and receive required Planning Board approval and site-plan review.

After construction, the operator must obtain a third-party post-construction noise study while mechanical equipment, including HVAC units and generators, operates at full capacity, using the same eight property-line locations.

The post-construction study must be submitted to the County Judge and filed with the county clerk within 30 days after completion.

A data center may not begin operating until the post-construction study is completed, properly filed, and demonstrates compliance; if it is noncompliant, required attenuation measures and noise limits must be met first.

Following a noise complaint, the operator must conduct annual noise studies using the baseline and post-construction study specifications and file the results within 30 days after the applicable anniversary date.

Noise at the receiving property line may not reach 65 dBA or higher from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. or 55 dBA or higher from 10 p.m. to 8 a.m.

Noise testing must follow specified procedures, including calibrated equipment, required meter placement and repeated or high/average/low readings, documentation, and restrictions on outdoor testing during winds over 15 miles per hour, wet conditions, or other unsuitable conditions.

Required studies, plans, attenuation measures, approvals, and operating requirements must be satisfied; failure to file studies, exceed noise limits, operate without approval, or fail to build as approved constitutes a violation.

Data-center projects must provide required access, parking, circulation, electrical, water, wastewater, drainage, utilities, fire protection, emergency access, and emergency-response arrangements before operating.

Data centers must comply with additional requirements for screening, landscaping, buffering, exterior lighting, perimeter security or fencing, backup generators, fuel systems, and related supporting infrastructure.

A data center must satisfy decommissioning or removal requirements if it ceases operation.

Violations may be prosecuted as misdemeanors with fines of up to $1,000 per offense, double fines for repeat offenses, and an additional $500 per day for continuing violations.

The county or any citizen may seek injunctions and other legal or equitable remedies, including civil damages, and a noncompliant data center must cease operations until it complies, implements required attenuation measures, and meets the noise limits.

Creates a specific data-center land-use category and allows data centers in the designated zoning districts, including as a conditional use in industrial districts, subject to the ordinance's application, site-plan, and approval requirements.

Establishes a defined review process for data-center construction, conversion, siting, and expansion, allowing projects to proceed when they satisfy the stated zoning, location, infrastructure, and development standards.

Allows existing, legally established data centers to continue operating as nonconforming uses if later zoning changes would otherwise make them inconsistent.

Allows data-center campuses to include related operational facilities and equipment, including utility, cooling, power-generation, security, and other support improvements, subject to applicable site-development requirements.

Allows existing data centers to expand or be modified when the addition or change complies with the ordinance and receives the required Planning Board or other applicable approval.

Provides specific standards for site design, setbacks, screening, security, noise, infrastructure, and related development matters, so applications can be evaluated under defined rules.

Permits mechanical equipment to satisfy screening requirements through several alternatives, including a building facade, visually solid fence, screen wall or panel, or parapet wall.

Allows a noise-attenuation plan to use measures other than every recommendation from the acoustic engineer when a third-party architectural or design firm determines that the selected measures are adequate for compliance.

Sets objective operating noise thresholds at the receiving property line: sound below 65 dBA from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. and below 55 dBA from 10 p.m. to 8 a.m. is within the stated limits.

Allows a data center to begin or continue operating after the required post-construction noise study is completed, filed, and shows compliance, without an additional discretionary operating approval under the noise provisions.

Requires annual post-construction noise studies only when a noise complaint arises, rather than automatically every year.

Limits noise measurements to specified testing conditions, requires meter calibration, and requires unrelated extraneous sounds to subside before measurement, reducing the risk that unsuitable conditions or unrelated sounds establish a violation.