In Madera County’s unincorporated area, a permit is required before erecting, constructing, enlarging, altering, repairing, relocating, converting, occupying, or maintaining a building or structure, which would include a data-center facility. The County states that these activities are regulated under adopted building codes.

Data-center construction must comply with the currently adopted California Building, Mechanical, Plumbing, Electrical, Fire, Energy, Green Building, and other listed codes. Chapter 14.04 adopts these standardized codes.

Permanent electrical, plumbing, mechanical, heating, and cooling utilities cannot be connected until the building official approves compliance with the applicable code and places an approval tag. The County requires approval before permanent utility connections.

The building official may enter buildings and premises during usual business hours to conduct inspections in carrying out code-enforcement duties. The County grants the administrative authority a right of entry for inspections.

A relocation permit from the building relocation board is required, in addition to other permits, to move a building with more than 120 square feet of projected floor area into or within the unincorporated county. The relocation threshold is more than 120 square feet.

Removing a structure larger than 120 square feet requires a demolition permit, and the permit must be pre-approved by the San Joaquin Valley Unified Air Pollution Control District before County issuance. The County requires both demolition permitting and air-district approval.

The County may charge reinspection fees when work is not ready, required corrections are incomplete, the permit card or approved plans are unavailable, access is not provided, or construction deviates from approved plans; additional inspections will not occur until the fees are paid. The County authorizes reinspection fees and requires payment before further inspections.

[ { "provision": "Roof-mount solar submittals can be submitted online": A data center with qualifying rooftop solar can use the County’s online permit-submittal process. Ground-mount solar is not available for online submittal." }, { "provision": "Expedited permitting for qualifying electric vehicle charging systems": A data center installing a qualifying EV charging system may receive expedited permit processing, usually within 1 to 3 business days, provided all required documentation is correctly and fully completed." } ]

Data-center construction activities are limited to 7:00 a.m.–7:00 p.m. Monday through Friday and 9:00 a.m.–5:00 p.m. on Saturdays; construction is prohibited on Sundays.

Operations may not create disturbing, excessive, or offensive noise that causes discomfort or annoyance to reasonable persons of normal sensitivity. Enforcement considers factors including noise level, background noise, zoning, proximity to sleeping facilities, time, duration, recurrence, and whether the noise is agricultural, commercial, or noncommercial.

The operation of any sound-amplifying, sound-producing, or sound-reproducing device is prohibited between 10:00 p.m. and 8:00 a.m. when the sound creates a disturbance crossing residential property lines.

Sound from an amplification, production, or reproduction device that is plainly audible 50 feet from the building, structure, or vehicle where it is located is prima facie evidence of a violation.

Operating or permitting equipment that creates vibration above the applicable vibration-perception threshold, including at specified distances from private or public property, violates the chapter.

Violations are misdemeanors, may be enforced through a superior-court injunction, and are declared public nuisances, allowing enforcement against the property owner and/or event host through an administrative citation.

Each day a violation occurs or continues, and each county-staff visit during a single day to verify it, is treated as a separate offense. Penalties may reach $500 for a first violation, $750 for a second violation within one year, and $1,000 for each additional violation within one year.

Allows construction activities during defined hours—7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. Monday through Friday and 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. on Saturdays—which can provide a predictable construction window for building or expanding a data center. Construction activities are prohibited on Sundays. Construction activities are limited to the hours

Data centers are not expressly listed as a permitted use. Any use not specifically listed is prohibited unless another provision applies, and the zoning administrator must determine the classification of an unclassified use. Unclassified uses are prohibited.

All buildings and structures, including those constructed, altered, repaired, replaced, placed, or moved, require zoning administrator approval; approval may be handled through the building application only when the required zoning information is completed. Approval is required for all buildings and structures.

If a data center is classified as a use requiring a zoning permit, the permit requires an application, fee, public hearing, and zoning administrator approval based on compatibility, public health and safety, nuisance impacts, parking, circulation, drainage, sewage disposal, screening, and operational controls. Zoning permits require a public hearing and fee.

A conditional use permit may be required if the data center is not permitted by right in the applicable zone. The application requires a use statement, site plan, fee, and zoning administrator screening before the CUP process can proceed. CUP applications require a use statement, site plan, and fee.

CUP applications require detailed location, building, site, and operating plans addressing compatibility, architecture and landscaping, drainage, sewage disposal, screening, and controls for noise, dust, odor, smoke, or glare. Detailed plans and operating information are required.

A CUP may be approved only after findings that the use will not violate the zoning ordinance, harm public health or safety, create a nuisance, or substantially affect neighboring property values or neighborhood desirability. CUP approval requires specified findings.

The zoning agency may impose additional conditions or make applicable zone regulations more restrictive, and all existing and proposed uses on the site must be identified in the CUP. The permit conditions bind successors and may include an expiration date. CUP conditions run with the land.

CUP proceedings require public notice and a public hearing; notice generally must be mailed to owners within 300 feet or published and posted at least 10 days before the hearing. Decisions are not effective until the 16th day after the hearing, and appeals may be filed within 15 days. Public notice, effectiveness, and appeals apply.

A CUP may be terminated or become voidable if the approved use has not commenced within two years. Extensions are limited to one year each and no more than three additional years total; a status report is required if the use has not commenced within one year. CUPs have commencement deadlines and extension limits.

A CUP amendment involving a 10 percent increase in facility size or approval conditions is treated as a major amendment requiring decision-maker approval; changes in facility style or building location require at least a zoning permit. Facility expansions can require a major CUP amendment.

In the I-L and I-H industrial districts, development is subject to a minimum 25-foot front setback, 10-foot side offset, 20-foot rear offset, and a maximum principal and accessory structure height of 60 feet. Industrial uses next to a residential district must also meet the more restrictive adjoining residential offset. Industrial setback and height standards apply.

In the I-L and I-H districts, a site generally must have at least one acre and an average lot width of at least 120 feet. I-L industrial uses are limited to a 90 percent total building-area-to-lot-area ratio, while I-H industrial uses are subject to the same 90 percent maximum for industrial uses. Industrial lot-size and building-area limits apply.

Industrial and general commercial uses must provide parking based on the highest number of employees scheduled onsite, plus truck parking determined from the operational statement; at least four parking spaces and one truck parking space are required for these uses. Industrial parking and truck-space requirements apply.

A parking plan and site-plan review must be approved before construction or installation of a required parking facility, and building permits or foundation plans cannot be approved until the parking review is complete. Parking review must precede building-permit approval.

Commercial and industrial buildings under 10,000 square feet must provide at least one small-truck loading space, while buildings of 10,000 square feet or more must provide at least one large-truck loading space per center; additional truck spaces may be required through site-plan review. Loading-space requirements depend on building size.

Commercial, industrial, institutional, and multifamily parking areas must be paved or otherwise approved to prevent mud, dust, loose material, and related nuisances; parking setbacks must be landscaped and irrigated, and one shade tree is required for every six parking spaces. Parking surfacing and landscaping requirements apply.

Where a parking facility is within 100 feet of residentially zoned or developed property, a solid masonry wall at least six feet high is generally required along the common property line, with landscaping between the wall and parking area. Residential adjacency triggers screening requirements.

For parcels of at least one acre in a state responsibility fire protection area, building and accessory-structure setbacks must comply with California Public Resources Code fire-safe setback standards; exceptions require specified fire-department documentation and zoning-administrator processing. SRA parcels have additional fire-safe setback requirements.

Applications for zoning permits, CUPs, or rezonings filed after a use or construction has already been established in violation of the ordinance are subject to double the application fee. After-the-fact applications require double fees.

If a data center is classified as a permitted light-industrial or general-commercial use, the I-L district allows those uses by right; the I-H district similarly allows heavy industrial, light industrial, and general commercial uses by right. The applicable district standards and any required approvals still apply. Permitted uses in the I-L district

A data center project may use the Planned Development District process when its proposed use is consistent with the General Plan. A conditional use permit can establish project-specific lot sizes, setbacks, height, parking, and other standards, allowing deviations from ordinary zoning standards when public benefits result. designed to allow diversity

The county may approve communications equipment buildings, substations, and certain major transmission, power, and communication lines in any zoning district, subject to the specified review. Public utility distribution and transmission lines are allowed in all districts without a use permit, except for airport-airspace restrictions; proposed electric-transmission routes require planning commission review and recommendation. shall be permitted in any district

A structure may exceed the applicable district height limit by up to ten feet if all required setbacks and offsets are increased by one foot for each additional foot of height, subject to the airport-airspace maximum. This can provide additional flexibility for taller data-center buildings or equipment. increased by not more than ten feet

For sites larger than two acres, a parking master plan may reduce the parking otherwise required by up to twenty percent. The plan must demonstrate adequate parking, circulation, safety, and phased parking availability, and requires zoning-administrator approval. only permit reductions of up to twenty percent

Commercial parking requirements may be satisfied partly through off-site parking when the separate facility is adjacent, is not separated by an overly wide alley, highway, or local street, is within two hundred feet of the building served, and is secured by a recorded covenant, cross-parking agreement, or similar instrument. Up to fifty percent

A conditional use permit can include reasonable project-specific conditions and may modify otherwise applicable zone regulations to make them more restrictive or tailored to the site. This can provide a defined operating framework for a data center, although the permit remains subject to public-health, safety, compatibility, and nuisance findings. may impose reasonable conditions

A lawful existing data-center use that later becomes nonconforming may continue, although expansion, changes in use, or increased operations generally require a conditional use permit. A nonconforming use generally becomes subject to current zoning if discontinued for six consecutive months, except agricultural uses. may be continued

A building or structure covered by a building permit issued before a zoning change may proceed without being redesigned to meet the later zoning provisions if construction substantially began within six months and continued diligently. a building permit has been issued

Electric-vehicle charging stations that qualify under Government Code Section 65850.7 receive expedited administrative permitting under the county's electric-vehicle charging-station expediting ordinance, which can facilitate EV infrastructure serving a data-center project. subject to expedited permit processing