A temporary moratorium bars the submission, acceptance, review, and processing of applications to construct, expand, or establish data centers during the moratorium period.

Data centers are allowed in the Watershed Interchange District only with a Special Permit and discretionary Planning and Zoning Commission approval.

The zoning regulations cap cumulative data-center floor area in the Watershed Interchange District at 350,000 square feet, with no more than 250,000 square feet of gross floor area on any single parcel. One account describes the district-wide cap as 400,000 square feet, creating an ambiguity in the reported cumulative limit.

Data-center buildings must be at least 500 feet from Residential or Rural Residential District boundaries and at least 300 feet from an existing residential property in the Watershed Interchange District, although the Commission may reduce these distances based on topography or other physical site characteristics.

Data-center buildings may not exceed 60 feet in height.

Data centers must use direct-expansion cooling or another refrigerant-based system that does not rely on one-time-use water.

Applicants must submit a vibration and sound analysis prepared by a qualified acoustic professional who is board-certified by the Institute of Noise Control Engineering or an equivalent organization and has designed at least five data centers; the analysis must address low-frequency sound and recommend mitigation.

Backup-generator testing is permitted only at times and on days approved by the Commission.

Fuel stored at a data-center site must meet federal and state requirements, including double-walled tanks, anticorrosion-coated piping, and a Spill Prevention, Control and Countermeasure plan, as well as Watershed Protection District requirements.

Operators must continuously monitor sound emissions, retain monitoring records for five years, provide them to the Zoning Enforcement Officer upon request, and report noise-limit exceedances to the appropriate Town official within one business day.

Applications must meet specified architectural, site-planning, and landscaping standards, including façade interruptions at least every 75 feet, varied materials, upper-story articulation, screened flat roofs, limits on ground-floor entrances, minimized disturbance, preservation of existing trees, berms, and use of a professional landscape architect; the Commission may also require a viewshed or visual-impact analysis.

The Commission may require independent professional review of an application. The applicant must pay the estimated review cost in advance, and failure to pay makes the application incomplete and subject to denial.

The Commission may require a pre-application meeting to determine the evidence, studies, analyses, information, and peer reviews required for the application.

Because data centers require a Special Permit, applications must undergo a public hearing with published notice, on-site posting for at least 10 days, and mailed notice to abutting property owners 10 to 15 days before the hearing; mailing documentation is due at least five calendar days before the hearing.

Data centers must provide at least one parking space per employee on the major shift and at least one space per 500 square feet of office space.

In the Watershed Interchange District, surface parking may not exceed 120 percent of the minimum required parking, and tractor-trailer parking and loading spaces away from loading bays may not exceed 120 percent of approved loading-bay doors. Additional parking requires specified mitigation, such as green roofs, permeable pavement, or structured parking.

For commercial or industrial development in the Watershed Protection Overlay District, including a data center located there, untreated runoff may not be discharged directly to surface waters; impervious-area runoff must receive specified treatment, and a 100-foot buffer from surface waters is required.

For commercial or industrial development in the Watershed Protection Overlay District, at least 75 percent of required open space must remain undisturbed natural or native land or be restored to that condition.

Data centers are expressly authorized in designated industrial districts, including the Watershed Interchange District, through the Special Permit process and subject to site-plan requirements.

A data-center project may include necessary buildings and accessory equipment, including electrical substations, generators, cooling systems, fuel-storage facilities, and related utility infrastructure, subject to applicable site and safety requirements.

In the Watershed Interchange District, cumulative data-center and accessory-building floor area may reach 350,000 square feet, with up to 250,000 square feet of gross floor area on each parcel.

The Commission may reduce the usual 500-foot setback from Residential or Rural Residential districts and the 300-foot setback from existing residential properties when topography or other physical site characteristics support the reduction.

Data-center buildings may be up to 60 feet high in the Watershed Interchange District, compared with the district's standard 40-foot height limit.

Data centers may use direct-expansion cooling or another refrigerant-based system that transfers heat without one-time water use.

Roof-mounted HVAC equipment may occupy any amount of a data-center roof if it is screened from public view and adjacent properties.

The Commission may waive up to 75 percent of required parking if the applicant reserves a suitable area for potential future parking and complies with open-space requirements.

Data-center parking may be calculated based on employees on the major shift, with at least one space per 500 square feet of office space, rather than on the entire data-center floor area.

Excess parking may be provided in the Watershed Interchange District when offset by mitigation such as green roofs, permeable pavers, porous pavement, or a parking garage or underground structure.

Accessory retail may be included when secondary to and integrated with the data center, limited to 3,000 square feet or 10 percent of the principal use's gross floor area, whichever is smaller.

Accessory food-service and recreation facilities may be provided for data-center employees.

Building-mounted and certain canopy-mounted solar panels may be installed as accessory facilities, subject to height, setback, screening, coverage, and technical-submission requirements.

Electric-vehicle charging stations may be installed for vehicles associated with the on-site use, and their associated parking spaces may count toward the minimum parking requirement.

The Commission may arrange a pre-application meeting to identify the evidence, studies, analyses, and peer reviews required for a proposed data-center Special Permit application.

The Town Planner may waive site-plan information or reports that do not pertain to the proposal, are unnecessary to determine compliance, or would have no or negligible impact on the Special Permit objectives.

Approved data centers may continue operating and may be modified or expanded under the regulation and their approvals rather than being treated as unauthorized solely because zoning rules later change.