Data centers are allowed only in the HI Heavy Industrial zoning district and require a Conditional Use Permit approved by the Board of Commissioners; they are prohibited in all other districts and may not be developed by right.

The applicant must prove through competent and substantial evidence that the project satisfies all ordinance standards, including land-use compatibility, infrastructure adequacy, water-resource protection, noise and environmental mitigation, emergency response, and comprehensive-plan consistency; failure to satisfy any standard is grounds for denial.

A data-center site must contain at least 175 contiguous acres under common ownership or unified control.

The site must have at least 1,000 feet of continuous frontage on and direct access to a paved public road capable of serving anticipated construction and operational traffic; flag lots and access solely through residential subdivisions do not qualify.

Principal buildings must be at least 500 feet from property lines, 1,500 feet from existing dwellings on property outside the owner's control, and 2,000 feet from specified schools, daycare facilities, hospitals, nursing homes, and public parks.

Generators, mechanical equipment, cooling equipment, substations, transformers, switchgear, fuel storage, and comparable equipment must be at least 750 feet from property lines and 1,500 feet from existing dwellings outside the owner's control.

Buildings are limited to 60 feet in height unless specified appurtenances are approved as part of the Conditional Use Permit.

Principal buildings may cover no more than 25 percent of the gross site acreage, and total impervious surface may not exceed 35 percent unless the Board of Commissioners specifically approves a greater amount after making required stormwater and water-resource findings.

A continuous, undisturbed natural buffer at least 300 feet wide must be maintained along all property boundaries, with buildings, parking, equipment, fuel storage, substations, and stormwater facilities generally prohibited within it.

Security fencing is limited to 12 feet unless a greater height is specifically approved, and fencing must generally be placed on the interior side of the perimeter buffer.

Data centers must comply with property-line noise limits of 55 dBA and 65 dBC during the day and 45 dBA and 55 dBC at night, with compliance required for both weighting standards; tonal, impulsive, repetitive low-frequency noise, and unreasonable vibration are also prohibited.

The owner must conduct post-construction acoustical testing within 90 days after initial operation of each phase and at other times reasonably required by the County following a documented complaint or Material Change.

Diesel backup generators must meet or exceed applicable EPA Tier 4 Final emissions standards unless a stricter federal or state standard applies, and must comply with the ordinance's property-line noise limits during testing, maintenance, emergency operation, and other operation.

Routine backup-generator testing is limited to 9:00 a.m. through 5:00 p.m., Monday through Friday, excluding legal holidays, and generally may not exceed eight hours per calendar month.

Exterior lighting must be limited to what is necessary for safe operation and security, use shielded full-cutoff fixtures directed downward, avoid unreasonable glare and measurable trespass onto adjoining residential property, and be supported by a photometric plan.

Open-loop and once-through cooling systems are prohibited; data centers must use closed-loop cooling designed to minimize consumptive water use and disclose water demand, consumptive losses, and reuse measures.

Applicants must demonstrate that water supplies are legally available and adequate for initial and ultimate build-out without unreasonable impacts on groundwater, surface water, existing lawful users, or neighboring wells; proposed groundwater use requires a hydrogeologic study.

Applications must include extensive professionally prepared materials, including a full-build-out master site plan, electrical and water analyses, traffic and noise studies, lighting and landscaping plans, stormwater and environmental reports, emergency-response plans, fiscal-impact information, construction-management plans, and a preliminary decommissioning plan.

Technical studies must generally be based on current conditions and be no more than one year old when the application is determined complete; incomplete or materially deficient applications may be returned and review periods do not begin or continue until required information is submitted.

The County may require independent professional or peer review, and the applicant must reimburse the County for reasonable actual review costs, maintain a review escrow or other security, and replenish insufficient funds; failure to replenish within 30 days may suspend review, permit processing, inspections, or Material Change consideration.

Applicants are responsible for transportation improvements reasonably necessary because of the project, including roads, entrances, turn lanes, bridges, intersections, and signals, and must repair project-related damage to public roads, bridges, culverts, drainage facilities, and shoulders.

Before receiving development permits, the applicant and property owner must enter into a Development Agreement addressing phasing, infrastructure, construction traffic, emergency response, stormwater, landscaping, noise, water use, financial guarantees, inspections, maintenance, decommissioning, defaults, and enforcement.

Each development phase must independently provide required access, stormwater management, buffers, landscaping, screening, utilities, emergency access, fire protection, noise mitigation, and other supporting improvements before receiving a Certificate of Occupancy.

Before a Land Disturbance Permit, the applicant must provide financial assurance for decommissioning and restoration in an approved form, generally equal to at least 125 percent of the estimated net cost; the assurance must be reviewed at least every five years and after a Material Change.

Within 24 months after Permanent Cessation of Operations, the owner must remove the facility and associated buildings, foundations, equipment, generators, batteries, fuel storage, cooling systems, fencing, utilities, and paving unless the Board approves an alternative lawful use or restoration plan.

The owner must submit annual compliance certifications and maintain records for at least five years covering noise, generator testing, stormwater, buffers, emergency systems, hazardous materials, ownership and contacts, water use when required, operational changes, and financial assurance.

The County may conduct inspections, require access to the property and relevant records, require sealed record drawings before each phase's Certificate of Occupancy, and require correction of material deficiencies.

Any Material Change, including increased electrical demand, water use, building area, generator or fuel capacity, changed cooling technology, additional buildings, reduced setbacks or buffers, expanded development area, or conversion to cryptocurrency mining, requires an amended Conditional Use Permit before implementation.

A Conditional Use Permit expires unless Substantial Construction begins within 24 months after approval, although the Board may grant an extension for good cause and continuing consistency with the ordinance.

Permanent Cessation of the principal use for 12 consecutive months generally constitutes Permanent Cessation of Operations, subject to exceptions for temporary shutdowns such as maintenance, repairs, emergencies, utility interruptions, or other demonstrated temporary circumstances.

Violations may result in notices and corrective orders, Stop Work Orders, suspension or withholding of permits and Certificates of Occupancy, penalties, injunctions, recovery of costs, use of financial assurance, nuisance abatement, and revocation or modification of the Conditional Use Permit after notice and an opportunity to be heard.

The County approved a 90-day moratorium on data centers in July while officials developed long-term regulations, temporarily hindering data-center applications.

Commercial data centers are expressly allowed as a conditional use in the HI Heavy Industrial District, providing a defined zoning pathway rather than an outright prohibition.

The ordinance allows accessory offices, security facilities, substations, switchyards, backup generators, cooling equipment, water and fire-protection facilities, maintenance buildings, parking, loading areas, and stormwater facilities as part of an approved data center.

Cryptocurrency mining, artificial-intelligence computing, high-performance computing, blockchain processing, and comparable emerging technologies are regulated as commercial data centers, allowing them to use the same approval framework.

Data centers may be developed in phases under an approved master site plan, phasing plan, conditional-use permit, and development agreement.

The ordinance permits a certificate of occupancy for a phase when that phase's required improvements are completed, inspected, and approved or lawfully secured, rather than requiring completion of the entire planned campus.

Routine maintenance and like-kind replacement that do not materially increase impacts may be approved administratively without an amended conditional-use permit.

A conditional-use permit runs with the land, allowing the approved facility to remain authorized after a change in ownership or operational control, although successor owners remain subject to the ordinance and approval conditions.

The conditional-use permit does not automatically expire if substantial construction has not begun within 24 months when the Board of Commissioners grants an extension for good cause and continuing consistency with the ordinance.

Equipment appurtenances such as communications equipment, lightning-protection equipment, and architectural projections may exceed the 60-foot building-height limit if approved as part of the conditional-use permit.

The Board of Commissioners may approve impervious-surface coverage above the 35-percent limit after finding that the additional area will not adversely affect stormwater management, water resources, or neighboring properties.

Required transportation improvements for a development phase may be completed or secured in a legally allowed form acceptable to the County before a certificate of occupancy is issued.

Emergency operation of backup generators during utility outages or declared emergencies is allowed at any hour, subject to the applicable property-line noise limits.

Routine backup-generator testing is expressly allowed between 9:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. on weekdays, excluding legal holidays, for up to eight hours per month unless a longer period is justified by regulatory, manufacturer, or operational requirements.