Data centers are conditional uses in the M1 Restricted Industrial, M2 Heavy Industrial, and MINE Mining Operations districts, requiring conditional-use approval rather than being permitted by right. In districts where they are not specifically listed, they may require a director determination or rezoning.

Conditional-use applications require a public hearing, generally before the Planning Commission, followed by Board of Commissioners action.

Conditional-use applications require extensive submissions, including fees, boundary surveys, legal descriptions, site plans, paid-tax verification, and ownership or corporate disclosures. Fees are nonrefundable once the application is deemed complete.

A public-participation plan and report are required, including notice to owners and homeowners associations within 500 feet, an applicant-sponsored meeting, signage, and a report. For proposals involving at least 5,000 square feet of nonresidential building space, the meeting must be audio- and video-recorded.

A title opinion is required for most conditional-use applications, identifying ownership, covenants, deed restrictions, and easements. The exception is a permit in an existing building or for an expansion of an existing building.

Conditional-use applications covering 10 acres or more require a written evaluation addressing infrastructure, population density, Comprehensive Plan consistency, the need for approval or rezoning, and public welfare.

Sewage-disposal information is required for rezoning and conditional-use applications. Proposed sewer service requires a pre-application meeting; projects relying on future sewer must provide a phasing plan and identify affected properties and required off-site easements.

A sketch plat is required before land-disturbance permits for development involving at least two acres of tract or disturbance area, or five acres for M1-zoned property. The Board of Commissioners must hold a public hearing and approve the sketch plat before the land-disturbance permit is issued, unless an existing approved site plan substantially covers the same development.

M2 conditional uses require a professional impact statement addressing noise, vibration, fumes, odors, dust, air particulates, illumination, truck traffic, and water-table impacts. Recommended mitigation generally becomes an approval condition, and an independent statement may extend processing by up to 62 days.

Industrial and mining operations must meet operating limits, including boundary noise limits of 60 dBA next to residential, office-residential, noise-sensitive, or public property; 65 dBA next to commercial or office property; and 75 dBA next to other industrial or mining property. Off-site glare, heat, recurring odors, air emissions, and ground vibration are also restricted.

Land-disturbance and building permits are required before site work or construction. In nonresidential districts, land-disturbance permits expire after 18 months and may be renewed only once if requested within three months; building permits expire after 12 months and likewise allow only one renewal.

A certificate of occupancy is required before use, and final utility service cannot be provided without it. A temporary certificate permits only employee training, stocking or moving nonperishable inventory, and moving equipment; public occupancy is prohibited.

Industrial and mining sites must install utilities underground, provide approved drainage and stormwater systems, screen outside storage and dumpsters, meet landscape-strip requirements, and submit approved as-built drawings before receiving a certificate of occupancy.

Around-the-clock business hours require a conditional-use permit, so a continuously operating data center requires additional approval.

A data center must maintain a minimum 100-foot setback along every lot line adjoining a residential, office-residential, Agricultural, or Agricultural-Residential zoning district.

A data center must provide a minimum 75-foot buffer along every lot line adjoining a residential, office-residential, Agricultural, or Agricultural-Residential zoning district.

Data center buildings must be at least 20 feet high.

Any chain-link fence used for a data center may not be visible from a public right-of-way.

Generators may be used only for emergency backup purposes, except during testing.

Generator testing is limited to 9:00 a.m. through 5:00 p.m.

At the boundary of any residentially zoned property, data-center noise may not exceed 60 dBA at any time or 55 dBA between 9:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m.

All ventilation and cooling equipment must be inside an enclosed building, subject to maximum building-height requirements; rooftop ventilation is allowed only when necessary.

A hydro-cooling system must be installed by an insured cooling-system company that certifies and ensures there are no leaks.

Hydro-cooling systems may not connect to or use the County water system, except that the Director of Water and Sewer may approve supplemental or emergency public-potable-water use subject to capacity, best-management, and permit requirements, and may limit or terminate that use.

Data centers are conditional uses%20in%20the%20M1%20Restricted%20Industrial,%20M2%20Heavy%20Industrial,%20and%20MINE%20Mining%20Operations%20districts), allowing them in the M1 Restricted Industrial, M2 Heavy Industrial, and MINE Mining Operations districts subject to conditional-use approval; around-the-clock operations also require a conditional-use permit.

M1 land development requires a sketch plat only at five acres or more, or when the disturbance area is at least five acres, instead of the generally applicable two-acre threshold.

Industrial districts allow up to 55 percent building coverage. M1 and M2 have a one-acre minimum zoning area, while MINE requires five acres without blasting or crushing and 50 acres when those activities are involved.

A temporary certificate of occupancy may be issued for commercial, industrial, or office buildings, allowing limited employee training, stocking or moving nonperishable inventory, and equipment move-in before final occupancy. It requires required inspections, no fire or life-safety issues, and no public occupancy; it lasts 30 days and may be renewed twice for 30-day extensions.

Approved rezonings and conditional-use permits provide an 18-month development window, during which development may proceed under the Code in effect when the application was accepted. For industrial projects exceeding 10 acres, the Director may extend the period up to five years if development is progressing at a reasonable pace.

Supplemental or emergency use of public potable water may be approved by the Water and Sewer Director for a data center using hydro-cooling when specified water-system, best-practice, and permit criteria are met. The approval may be limited by time, volume, flow, or another metric and may later be terminated.

A variance can be granted by the Director of Water & Sewer for nonresidential development when the gravity-flow distance exceeds 200 feet per residential equivalent. If public sewer and an adequately sized private treatment plant are unavailable and on-site disposal is infeasible, the variance may authorize collaborative financing, construction, and operation of a public sewer facility.

Any land use may be permitted within a Planned Unit Development if specifically requested and approved as part of the development application and if it has an orderly relationship to other uses and the Comprehensive Plan.

Planned Unit Developments have no fixed minimum lot size, lot width, lot-coverage, setback, or height requirements; the applicant proposes those standards for approval through the rezoning and site-plan process. The PUD must contain at least 20 contiguous acres.