Section 17-110(6): No property shall be used for the establishment of Data Centers, Commercial, as defined herein. Commercial scope includes data processing or data storage, not merely hyperscale facilities.

Limited private-use carve-out: the commercial definition excludes personal or private property owner use. Private centers must meet the definition, including an IT load not exceeding 25 kilowatts, and are enumerated as conditional uses, not granted unconditional approval.

Commercial data centers are prohibited throughout the county. The regulations expressly prohibit using any property for a Commercial Data Center.

A private data center requires a Conditional Use Permit rather than being allowed by right. Private data centers are listed among the conditional uses that may be approved by the Governing Body.

A private data center must meet the narrow definition of a private facility: it must be accessory to the principal use, serve only the property owner, occupants, or one business, provide no third-party hosting or colocation, have no more than 25 kilowatts of installed IT load, require no dedicated utility substation or industrial cooling system, and not materially increase off-site impacts. Facilities exceeding these limits fall outside the private-data-center category and cannot operate as commercial data centers.

A Conditional Use Permit application for a private data center must include a development plan before the application is considered complete or scheduled for a public hearing, and no building permit may be issued until both the Conditional Use and development plan are approved. The plan must address items including buildings, parking, utilities, drainage, lighting, signs, circulation, and finished-floor elevations.

Approval of a private data center requires a public hearing and review by the Planning Commission, followed by approval by the Governing Body. The Governing Body may impose operational, construction, parking, lighting, screening, noise, dust, vibration, and other conditions.

A Conditional Use Permit for a private data center requires a $500 application fee, as listed on the county’s [Land Development fee schedule](https://www.osageco.org/221/Land-Development#:~:text=Conditional%20Use%20Permit, %24500).

Construction under an approved Conditional Use and development plan must begin within one year of Planning Commission approval. Only one written one-year extension may be granted; otherwise, the development plan becomes null and void and a new plan must be approved before construction can proceed.

A private data center must obtain the county’s zoning approval before construction, occupancy, or a change in use. The regulations require a zoning certificate and later a Certificate of Occupancy, with a site plan and information concerning buildings, utilities, sewage, drainage, floodplain applicability, lighting, signs, fencing, screening, and landscaping.

A private data center is expressly listed as a conditional use, creating a permitting pathway for qualifying facilities. The facility must be accessory to the property’s principal use, serve only the owner, occupants, or a single business, stay at or below 25 kW of installed IT equipment, and not provide third-party colocation, cloud computing, or commercial hosting services. Private data centers are listed as conditional uses and defined with these limits.

Conditional uses may be approved in districts where they are otherwise prohibited, subject to public notice, a hearing, a development plan, and approval by the Governing Body. This provides a route for an eligible private data center to obtain approval outside the district’s ordinary permitted-use list. Conditional uses may be permitted in any district from which they are prohibited.

During conditional-use review, the county may adjust or modify requirements for height, open space, setbacks, parking, loading, and signs when necessary to allow reasonable development without harming the public welfare. These requirements may be adjusted or modified.

A conditional-use development plan may be submitted and approved in phases. Construction generally must begin within one year, but the Planning Commission may grant one additional one-year extension, and the Zoning Administrator may approve minor adjustments that remain within the approved plan’s standards. Development may proceed in phases.

An approved conditional use may continue as long as its approval conditions are satisfied. It is forfeited only if the use ceases for six months, after which a new application, public hearing, and approval are required. A Conditional Use Permit shall be allowed to continue.

A data center that was lawfully established before a later zoning restriction could receive nonconforming-use protection: its lawful use may continue, and it may use portions of the structure that were lawfully arranged or designed for that use. The protection is limited because one year of continuous inactivity ends the nonconforming use, and structural damage exceeding 50 percent generally requires conformity with current regulations. Lawful nonconforming uses may be continued.