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Regbase

The Data Center Divide

Sioux County

Neutral Data Center Policies

Sioux County has enacted rules that allow data centers to seek conditional-use approval while rescinding a moratorium. Special reviews and operating, road, liability, and cleanup requirements may add substantial costs and effort.

Rating from Iowa statewide as there are no scored current or future laws outside temporary restrictions for Sioux County.

Incentives

Tax benefits

The original 1980 policy approved a partial tax exemption for various properties in the county, with five-year exemption periods. The policy is now rescinded; existing beneficiaries may finish their periods, but new applications are no longer accepted.

Sioux County Resolution 1980-10 — Industrial Property-Tax Exemption Policy

Specific to Sioux County only.

current law · Unincorporated portions of Sioux County
Establishes zoning, permitting, and operating requirements for data centers in unincorporated Sioux County, including rules for siting, noise, utilities, safety, and decommissioning.Sioux County Resolution No. 2026-32 — One-Year Moratorium on Data Centers and Industrial Battery Energy Storage Systems

What this means

The amendment would create a path for data centers to seek approval as a conditional use, and the package would rescind the existing moratorium (conditional-use placement criteria; moratorium rescission). But it also requires special reviews and imposes operating, road, liability, and decommissioning requirements, which could add substantial costs and effort. Taken together, the new opportunity and the added burdens roughly balance.

Timing

Ends
immediately upon passage and approval by the Board on 2026-10-27

The prior one-year moratorium adopted on 2026-06-16 is rescinded, repealed, and declared null and void in its entirety. It therefore ends upon passage and approval rather than continuing for the full one-year period.

People behind it

  • Proposed, considered, and adopted the amendment to Zoning Ordinance No. 1 establishing data center regulations.

  • Chairman of the Sioux County Board of Supervisors and signatory to Resolution No. 2026-41 adopting the amendment.

  • Sioux County Auditor who attested to Resolution No. 2026-41 and was identified as the office maintaining copies of the amended code.

Restrictions & requirementsHide restrictions & requirements14

  • Data centers are regulated as a heavy industrial use and must satisfy placement criteria for locating in an agricultural or heavy-industrial district.

  • A data center requires both a building permit and a conditional-use permit, subject to the ordinance’s additional requirements.

  • Data centers must comply with noise and light limits measured at the nearest occupied dwelling or place of public assembly, called the receptor.

  • Applicants must provide independent studies addressing sound, water, and utility impacts.

  • Data centers are subject to certification and safety requirements.

  • Repowering of a data center is subject to additional regulatory requirements.

  • Data centers must satisfy specified road-related requirements.

  • A data center is subject to a community betterment fund requirement, creating an additional project cost.

  • Applicants must provide a decommissioning and reclamation plan.

  • Data center owners or operators are subject to indemnification and liability requirements.

  • The ordinance imposes requirements governing cessation of data center operations.

  • Violations of the data center regulations are subject to penalties.

  • Conditional-use permit fees apply to data center applications.

  • The definition of data center excludes cryptocurrency-mining and blockchain-validation facilities, so those facilities cannot qualify under the data center provisions.

Benefits & exceptionsHide benefits & exceptions3

  • Rescinds the one-year moratorium on data centers in the unincorporated portions of Sioux County, allowing data-center development to proceed under the new zoning rules; the rescission is effective immediately upon passage and approval. Resolution No. 2026-32 is rescinded

  • Classifies data centers as a heavy-industrial use and creates standards for their installation and operation, providing a defined zoning pathway rather than leaving the use unaddressed. standards for the installation and the operation of Data Centers as a Heavy Industrial Use

  • Provides for data-center placement in agricultural and heavy-industrial districts through specified placement criteria, subject to the ordinance’s other requirements and permitting standards. Criteria for placement in an Agricultural and Heavy Industrial District

Sources

pending · Unincorporated portions of Sioux County
Regulates data centers in unincorporated Sioux County as heavy industrial uses, with requirements for permits, siting, noise, utilities, safety, roads, and decommissioning.Sioux County Amendment to Zoning Ordinance No. 1 — Article XVI-C Data Center Regulations

What this means

The proposal would allow data centers in certain districts but add a conditional-use process and requirements covering studies, sound, roads, safety, and decommissioning, which could increase costs and delay projects (listed requirements). The source does not give the detailed rules, so the size of those burdens is uncertain.

Timing

Ends
immediately upon passage and approval by the Board

Resolution No. 2026-42 rescinds the one-year moratorium established by Resolution No. 2026-32 on June 16, 2026. The rescission applies to the moratorium on data centers and BESS in unincorporated Sioux County; the data-center zoning regulations remain.

People behind it

  • Proposed, considered, adopted, and administered the amendment and the resolution rescinding the data-center moratorium.

  • Chairman of the Sioux County Board of Supervisors who signed and approved Resolution No. 2026-41.

  • Sioux County Auditor who attested to Resolution No. 2026-41 and was identified as the custodian of the adopted ordinance.

Restrictions & requirementsHide restrictions & requirements14

  • Data centers are regulated as a Heavy Industrial use, with placement governed by specific criteria in Agricultural and Heavy Industrial districts. regulated as a Heavy Industrial Use

  • A data center must satisfy special requirements and obtain a building permit before construction. Special Requirements and Building Permit

  • A data center requires a conditional use permit, creating an additional land-use approval requirement. Conditional Use Permit

  • Applicants must meet specific criteria for placing a data center in an Agricultural or Heavy Industrial district. Criteria for placement in an Agricultural and Heavy Industrial District

  • The regulations require independent studies concerning sound, water, and utilities, adding application and development requirements. Sound, Water and Utility Independent Study Requirements

  • Data centers are subject to certification and safety requirements. Certification, Safety

  • The regulations impose requirements concerning roads serving data centers. Roads

  • A Community Betterment Fund requirement creates an additional financial obligation for data-center development or operation. Community Betterment Fund

  • Applicants must provide a decommissioning and reclamation plan, creating obligations for eventual facility removal and site restoration. Decommissioning and Reclamation Plan

  • The regulations impose indemnification and liability requirements on data centers. Indemnification and Liability

  • The regulations address cessation of operations and can impose requirements when a data center stops operating. Cessation of Operations

  • Violations of the data-center regulations are subject to violations and penalties provisions. Violations and Penalties

  • The amendment establishes conditional use permit fees, adding a direct cost to obtaining approval. Conditional Use Permit Fees

  • A one-year moratorium on data centers and battery energy storage systems had temporarily barred covered facilities from being installed or developed, but Resolution No. 2026-42 rescinded it on October 27, 2026. one-year moratorium

Benefits & exceptionsHide benefits & exceptions3

  • The amendment treats data centers as a Heavy Industrial Use and adds related provisions to the Agricultural and Heavy Industrial zoning districts, creating a conditional-use pathway for placement in those districts, subject to the stated criteria and standards.

  • The amendment establishes a specific regulatory framework addressing building permits, conditional-use permits, placement criteria, utilities, roads, safety, and other operational requirements, giving applicants a defined process for obtaining approval rather than leaving data centers unaddressed by the zoning ordinance.

  • Resolution No. 2026-42 rescinds the one-year moratorium on data centers and battery energy storage systems adopted by Resolution No. 2026-32, allowing data-center development to proceed under the amended zoning rules. The rescission is effective immediately upon passage and approval.

Sources

Specific to Sioux County only.

repealed · County measure
Excludes data centers from property-tax abatements under Sioux County’s proposed replacement ordinance, which is still being drafted.Sioux County Resolution 1980-10 — Industrial Property-Tax Exemption Policy
Restrictions & requirementsHide restrictions & requirements1

  • None verified in Resolution 1980-10 itself. Only the separate proposed replacement would exclude data centers from tax abatements; replacement adoption is unverified.

Sources

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